Irish pair limit storm damage

Golf/ World Cup: The two men are hardened. They've been around the block more often in a World Cup context than anyone else and, so, when Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington scribbled their signatures on to a card for an opening-round 67, four under, in yesterday's first round over the Country Club course at Sandy Lane, it was with the same outlook as a certain political party: "A lot done, more to do."

In truth, on a day when wicked squalls punctuated activities on this idyllic isle, Ireland's score - which left them three strokes behind the tied pacesetters, Sweden, South Africa and Argentina - brought them into a safety zone.

Sure, they hadn't gotten off to a galloping start, as resort owners and noted horse enthusiasts JP McManus and John Magnier, watching from outside the ropes, might have wished. But neither had they incurred any disasters.

As McGinley put it, "Yes, we left shots out on the course. Four birdies between us, two each, is not good enough. We didn't hole any putts and things didn't go our way, but we're within touching distance.

"That seems to be what happens on the first day in fourball; everybody seems to jockey around on the same score.

"We'd like to be better, but we didn't play that badly. We simply didn't get the momentum when we needed to get it. We're only three shots off the lead and, considering the opportunities that we missed, we're there or thereabouts."

On a day when strong winds combined with heavy showers to accentuate the challenge of fast and grainy greens, three teams, those of Sweden, South Africa and Argentina - for whom Angel Cabrera was very much the strong man in contributing six birdies, including a hat-trick from the 14th - managed to shoot 64s.

It left the co-leaders one shot clear of the defending champions, Wales (who contrived to birdie four of the first six holes when the squalls were at their worst), and Germany, and two clear of the United States, England and South Korea.

To be sure, it was a tough old day at the office. If players had arrived in Barbados with suncream and sunglasses, yesterday's offering was more reminiscent of rain-hit wintry days on Ireland's west coast as the quality of umbrellas was tested to the very limits.

"A tough, mentally fatiguing day," confirmed South Africa's Rory Sabbatini, who partnered Richard Sterne, in what he self-deprecatingly termed was their country's "D team, or maybe E team", before adding: "It says a lot for South African golf that you're missing four of your highest-ranked players in the world and we're still there, competing."

Yet, lest anyone should run away with themselves, the fact of the matter is this World Cup is only one-quarter run and the two toughest days, those of foursomes, lie ahead (today and Sunday).

Yesterday's opening gambit of fourballs produced good-quality play in the difficult conditions, with only two countries, Jamaica and Switzerland, finishing over par.

Ireland finished the first day in a tie for ninth which, with only a smidgeon more luck, could have been so much better. Harrington, in particular, was frustrated on the greens, missing a number of makable birdie putts, notably on the third and the 15th.

On the third hole, a par four of 353 yards that was almost driveable for the really big hitters, he was standing over a four-foot birdie putt when his routine was disrupted by a ball from the group behind landing.

In a show of team unity, McGinley proceeded to walk off the green, positioning himself some 25 yards short of the green, so that no other player from behind would attempt to drive the green.

Still, Harrington, who went through his routine again, missed the birdie putt, although afterwards he refused to blame the disruption.

On the 15th, having reached the 529-yard par five in two, he hit his eagle putt three feet by the hole and missed the return for birdie.

Harrington had gotten off to a flying start with a 15-footer for birdie on the first hole, but he had to wait until the 18th for another one, where he hit a superb four-iron approach to four feet and, this time, made no mistake with the birdie putt.

"The putts weren't dropping today, so hopefully they'll drop another day," he said. "Over 72 holes it should even itself out.We're due a few. The nature of this game is you've got to be patient. There's 72 holes, and we'll get a run somewhere.

"Today wasn't our day, but I'd prefer to have it on one of the foursomes days."

The first opportunity for that comes with today's second round, when the teams will play the alternate-shot format, before reverting to fourballs tomorrow and finishing with foursomes on Sunday.