Tiger
Woods was one of the American losers in the morning fourballs, leaving the world
number one with a record of only one win in five Ryder Cup fourball contests as
he and Paul Azinger were beaten by a hole by Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke.
The
Dane and Irishman were retained by European captain Sam Torrance for the first
of the afternoon matches, in which they led Hal Sutton and Scott Verplank by two
holes after 10.
Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood were one down against Woods and Mark Calcavecchia
after seven, while Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer were one up against Phil
Mickelson and David Toms by the fifth.
The
last match, the all-Irish partnership of Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington
against Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk, was all square at the third.
U.S.
skipper Curtis Strange replaced four players to ensure all 12 of his team were
in action on day one while European captain Sam Torrance made only one change
-- McGinley for Niclas Fasth -- after a morning in which the U.S. made their worst
start since 1971 when Britain also led 3-1.
Westwood
and Garcia had the honor of claiming Europe's first point, the Englishman sinking
an 18 foot birdie putt at the 15th to beat David Duval and Davis Love 4 &
3 in front of a sell-out crowd of 35,000.
The
experienced European pair of Montgomerie and Langer then closed out their match
against Scott Hoch and Jim Furyk 4 & 3 to give Europe, bidding to win back
the trophy, a perfect start.
But
Mickelson and Toms claimed the first point for the U.S, narrowly holding off a
late challenge from Harrington and Fasth to win by one hole.
Bjorn
had collected his sixth birdie at the par-four 16th to put himself and Clarke
two up against Woods and Azinger.
But
Woods, who had only won three times in 10 previous Ryder Cup matches since his
debut in 1997, hit back with a birdie-four at the long 17th to take the match
to the last before Bjorn settled matters with his seventh birdie.
Clarke
had made a fast start with four birdies in the first five holes, but Woods recovered
from a bogey-five at the first with birdies at the second, third, fifth and eighth
holes to give his side an early one-hole advantage.
The
26-year-old Woods had found the same fairway bunker as Clarke off the tee at the
411-yard first but was distracted by a photographer on his back-swing and ended
up pushing his second shot right into a greenside bunker.
Garcia,
the only player to attempt to drive the green at the par-four 10th hole, found
the water there but still managed to save his par before Westwood birdied the
12th from 10 feet to give the Europeans a two-hole cushion.
Both
Garcia and Westwood then birdied the par-four 13th to go three up before the Englishman
reeled off his fifth birdie of the day to clinch victory on the 15th.
Langer
and Montgomerie collected four birdies apiece, the German holing out from 20 feet
at the par-three 14th to put the Europeans four clear before they sealed victory
at the 15th.
In
the final fourball match, world number two Mickelson and Toms were three up after
12, but Harrington and Fasth fought back and the Irishman missed a chance to square
the match at the last when his 15-foot birdie attempt lipped out.
More
than 1,200 armed police and marshals are maintaining a security presence at The
Belfry for this week's competition, which was scheduled to be held at the same
venue last year before being postponed for 12 months following the September 11
attacks.
The
U.S., who hold the trophy after their victory by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2 at Brookline
in 1999, have won 24 times in the 75-year history of the biennial competition.
Britain (or Europe
since 1979) have won seven matches and two have been tied.
In
the foursomes format, each team play only one ball with the players taking alternate
shots. In fourballs, each player completes a hole with the best score counting.
