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Clarke gives Europe lead after first fourball session

22/09/2006

Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood instantly justified their wildcard selections by claiming a brilliant point in the final fourball match of the first morning to put Europe 2½-1½ ahead at lunch on day one of the Ryder Cup at the K Club.

Northern Irish star Clarke, a unanimously popular captain's pick, proved to be the hero as his birdie four at the 16th put Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco one down for a third and final time to seal a well-earned point.

Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk had earlier given the US Ryder Cup team a morale-boosting point by claiming first blood in winning the opening four-ball match against Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie.

American big guns Woods and Furyk dominated their match as they led from nine onwards to record a comfortable one-hole win.

Woods, having recovered from an opening bogey, won three holes for the US including, crucially, two back to back on the 11th and 12th which effectively sealed the match.

Tom Lehman's side's lead was shortlived, however, as Spanish duo Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal claimed an emphatic 3&2 triumph over David Toms and Brett Wetterich in match three.

A birdie on the first from Garcia set the European ball rolling and they never looked back as two more either side of the turn added to a bogey five on the 13th from Toms confined the US pair to defeat.

Match two ended level after Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson squandered a three-hole lead through ten to allow Stewart Cink and JJ Henry back in the tie.

A topsy-turvy match saw the US pair take an early lead after winning the second hole only for Europe to then dominate until the 14th, thanks largely to the impressive form of Swedish ace Karlsson.

A birdie three at the 15th from Henry hauled the Americans back into the lead but only temporarily as Casey shot a four at the par-five 16th to once again tie the match.

Match 1
Harrington/ Montgomerie v Woods/ Furyk WON 1 UP

Match 2
Casey/ Karlsson v Cink / Henry MATCH HALVED

Match 3
WON 3&2 Garcia/ Olazabal v Toms/ Wetterich

Match 4
WON 1 UP Clarke/ Westwood v Mickelson/ DiMarco

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