Clarke and Europeans shine in the rain

Dismal European weather of the wet, February variety, provided a familiar backdrop for some sparkling performances in the opening round of the $5 million Andersen Consulting Matchplay Championship here at La Costa yesterday. In fact Darren Clarke was among no fewer than seven European winners in a welcome reversal of last year's fortunes.

And there could be two more. Colin Montgomerie was one up after 16 on American Dennis Paulson and Thomas Bjorn was one up on Glen Day after 15, when play was suspended for the day, because of the severity of the weather: these matches will be completed this morning.

So, the only casualties so far are Bernhard Langer and Padraig Harrington. And as it happened, the Dubliner lost on the 17th to another European, Jesper Parnevik, who was also a Ryder Cup colleague at Brookline last September. "I scored just about as well as I could have expected, given the way I was swinging the club," said Harrington afterwards.

Still, he remained a creditable two under par for the holes played. "The killer was that I hit some terrible shots when it really counted, on the back nine," he added. So there was rich irony in the fact that Clarke, by his own estimation, struck the ball a lot better than figures of two over would suggest.

There were several fancied competitors, however, who would have been thrilled simply to survive. Instead, holder Jeff Maggert and local man Phil Mickelson, departed the scene along with Nick Price and Vijay Singh.

But with figures of three under par for the 14 holes, Tiger Woods won with surprising ease - by 5 and 4 - over New Zealander Michael Campbell. "I figured if I got off to a solid start and made a few putts, I could put pressure on Michael," he said of his opening two birdies.

Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal, a quarter-finalist last year, came from two down after four to beat Craig Parry. And there was a similar win compatriot Sergio Garcia who got through on the 20th against Loren Roberts.

Clarke was looking forward to a second-round tie with Mark O'Meara, who lost to Harrington at Brookline. "I've played with Mark many times and he's a really nice guy," said the Tyrone-man. In fact their last meeting was in the Ryder Cup when he and Westwood beat O'Meara and Jim Furyk in foursomes on the Saturday morning.

Victory over a major championship winner is always an achievement. But a 2 and 1 win over Paul Azinger was all the sweeter for Clarke, in view of the American's Sony Open success in Hawaii last month. As it happened, Clarke was behind for only three holes - the third to the fifth - in a match of moderate scoring.

From one up at the turn, which he reached in 35, Clarke stretched his lead, crucially, at the short 14th. Here, as the skies opened, both players missed the green with three-iron tee shots but Clarke played the more prudent recovery and was rewarded with a win in bogey.

He then got up and down for a winning par at the 15th but lost the next to a par and with the rain coming down in torrents, the match ended at the long 17th which they halved in par. "Neither of us played particularly well, but I concentrated on keeping mistakes down to a minimum," he said afterwards.

Clarke went on: "It certainly makes a pleasant change from last year when I was heading home at this stage." Azinger commented: "I didn't putt well and I didn't hit it very good. It was just one of those days."

Sombre skies held their heavy load while Harrington did battle with Parnevik in the third match of the day. And it was every bit as tight as the players anticipated, especially on the front nine where they each had four birdies for an outward better-ball of 30.

As it happened, the only bogey came from Harrington at the eighth, where he drove into a bunker to turn one down. But he levelled at the 10th where it was Parnevik's turn to drive into trouble. Then the Swede effectively tied up the match by winning the 13th and 14th in birdie, par.

With a tricky wind sweeping across the 204-yard 14th, Parnevik pushed his tee-shot into a right, green-side bunker. In response, Harrington committed the cardinal sin of missing the green left. Almost predictably, Parnevik got up and down for par; Harrington didn't and the Dubliner was two down with four to play.

He later added: "It was always going to be a struggle for me. Obviously I'm disappointed but I'm pleased to be here. These are the sort of events I've got to be aiming at and I'm looking forward to qualifying again next year." Parnevik said: "The 13th and 14th holes changed the match, but I felt I deserved this win, if only to make up for losing to Parry when I was five under last year."