Europe storm the first act

It was one of their finest days on American soil. With four rookies in action, Europe swept to a 6-2 lead after the opening foursomes and fourballs in the 33rd Ryder Cup here at The Country Club yesterday. And Ireland's representatives had a hand in one and a half of those points.

As Americans attempted to come to terms with their worst start since the same deficit at Muirfield Village in 1987, the temporary plumbing failed. Which prompted one wag to remark: "Christ! Even the toilets choked."

But it wasn't quite that way. Though some hearts may have been stronger than others, the Americans were simply outplayed for the most part by superior opponents. US skipper Ben Crenshaw was left to contemplate a performance in which the world's number one and number two players, Tiger Woods and David Duval, lost morning and afternoon.

"My team played well and the pairings were good," insisted a bemused Crenshaw afterwards. "We just need to see some putts going in." There seemed cause for a some further analysis, however, into the fact that so many leading players failed to deliver even a point to the American cause.

From an Irish viewpoint, there was special delight in the last fourball battle. In gathering dusk, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood produced a marvellous finish to beat the combination of Woods and Duval on the 18th. With a glorious approach to the 17th, followed by a six-foot birdie putt, Clarke opened the door to victory. Westwood gained the necessary half at the last.

"We came out as underdogs but at the end of the day we seemed to knock in a couple of putts at the right time," said Clarke afterwards. "But it's too early to be celebrating. We have another two days of hard work to do."

Earlier in the day, Padraig Harrington combined splendidly with Miguel-Angel Jimenez in a halved match with Davis Love and reigning US Open champion Payne Stewart. Any sense of inadequacy which Harrington may have felt after missing an eight-foot putt for victory on the 18th should have been removed by the sight of Phil Mickelson failing from a similar position later in the day.

It was remarkable in the afternoon to see beleaguered Americans battling passionately in a vain attempt at overturning a foursomes deficit of 2 1/2 to 1 1/2. "Fun," was the word Sergio Garcia had for it; "frustrating" was the verdict of Woods.

For all their determination, the US had no answer to magnificent European putting. Garcia and Parnevik had the distinction of being the only pair to win morning and afternoon, playing some wonderful golf in the process. On being asked how he motivated the young Spaniard, captain Mark James replied: "All I do is feed him chocolate and let him go."

Following the relatively sedate process of foursomes, spectacle abounded in the fourballs. There was a holed 135-yard nine iron by Parnevik for an eagle two in a sparkling outward 30 and a dramatic 25-foot birdie putt by Woods at the eighth.

But the shot which really sent the galleries into a frenzy was an outrageous pitch-in birdie by Woods at the 10th to give himself and Duval the lead over Clarke and Westwood.

Garcia was not to be outdone by his distinguished rival. He opted for some typically athletic leaps after pitching into the hole for a winning eagle three at the long 14th. And as if that weren't enough, there were monster eagle putts from Paul Lawrie and Love.

All the while, there was the powerful, on-course leadership of Colin Montgomerie, who had the effect of instilling tremendous confidence into his colleagues, not least playing partner Lawrie. One and a half points represented a fine day's work by Monty, but his contribution went some way beyond that.

The first spectacle of the tournament came from the Americans when Tom Lehman chipped into the hole for a winning birdie at the opening hole. But the remainder of the morning and most of the afternoon belonged to Europe.

For the first time since his Ryder Cup debut in 1987, JoseMaria Olazabal missed the opening series of matches. But he returned in the afternoon to win with Jimenez.

Later, regarding team selection, James said pointedly: "I'll do whatever I think will get me the most points." With all four foursomes pairings retained, this can be taken as code for a determination not to draft in players this afternoon simply to give them a match.

With his first-choice pairings doing well, changes would be tantamount to a Formula One driver inflicting an unnecessary pit stop on himself. James is in no mood for such luxuries. The Ryder Cup is far too precious for that.