United States have narrow lead after first day of Ryder Cup
The United States have a narrow lead after the first day of Ryder Cup, which ended with none of the four balls completed due to rain affecting play at Celtic Manor.
The American team is ahead of Europe in two of the matches, all square in another and behind in a fourth.
Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar are one up against Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell after 11 holes, while Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton lead Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald by one after eight holes.
Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher are all square with world number one Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker after nine holes, while Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer are Europe’s only leading pair, standing one up over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson after 12.
Rain savages schedule
The session was not completed due to a downpour of rain which halted play for several hours. Fears were raised that the tournament would not be completed on Sunday, and that play would have to be extended into Monday for the first time ever in the bi-annual
clash.
The Europeans had taken the initiative early on to lead three of the four matches before play was suspended at 0945 BST, with Donald and Harrington trailing by two after just two holes. Play did not resume until 1700 BST, meaning more than seven hours of
playing time were lost due to the weather.
The schedule has been altered to extend the second session from four to six foursomes matches, while the third session has been changed from four foursomes matches to comprise of two foursomes and four four balls. That means that all of the players will
be out on the course at the same time in either foursomes or four balls for the first time.
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