Seve Trophy:Colin Montgomerie had never heard of a ploughing championship until the past few days. Now, he's glad the agricultural shindig is over, for a purely selfish reason.
"We need the farmers to bring their wellies and get over here," said the no-nonsense Scot, after an opening day to the Seve Trophy at The Heritage at Killenard yesterday where he likened the size of the crowd to the kind of turn-out he'd expect on a practice day at a regular tour event.
What's more, Monty - and his team-mates - were on the wrong end of yesterday's fourballs results as the continental Europeans dominated the first series to secure a 3-2 lead over Nick Faldo's Britain and Ireland team.
It wasn't a good day for the so-called "home" team, although one of the rookies, Graeme Storm, at least salvaged something more than pride with a birdie on the 18th that turned a half point into a full point in the final fourball that ensured all is not yet lost.
On a day with barely a breath of wind, and more sunshine than clouds to showcase the immaculately manicured course that has been created out of what were once flat fields, the golfing public effectively spoke with their feet at the absence of any Irish player in the B and I side. They stayed away, in their droves. Which was a shame, as some of the golf was truthfully out of the top drawer.
Montgomerie, for one, wasn't impressed that the sum of the galleries amounted to hundreds rather than thousands.
"The ploughing championships have to finish. The sooner they finish, the better they can come here and support us. I counted 24 spectators with us on the 10th. I get that size of crowd in a practice round in the evening. The atmosphere is limited and we need to get the ploughing championship over and all the farmers can come over," he said.
Had the lack of an Irishman on the team had a detrimental effect?
"A slight effect," said Montgomerie.
"There'd be 10,000 watching the Irishman play and 24 watching me . . . at the same time, Gary Player picked Mike Weir (for the Presidents Cup)."
However, he also conceded the fact that no fewer than 11 players declined their right to play here also had an effect.
Yet, there was some exceptional golf played, and none more so than in the top match where Swedish duo Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson were 11-under in defeating Montgomerie and Marc Warren by 3 and 1.
Karlsson chipped in for birdie on the first to halve the hole, but sank a 40-footer on the fourth to put them one-up and gain an advantage that steadily grew until the match was closed out on the 17th.
In an indication of the quality of the top game, the Swedes were nine-under after 11 holes but just two-up on the Scots.
"If you're not leading a match with that score, you're unlucky . . . but we knew we had to keep going," said Karlsson, who had never played team golf with Hanson, but saw yesterday's performance as a good omen as they're paired together for the World Cup in November.
Within minutes of recording the first win, the continentals had added a second point when the all-French pairing of Gregory Havret and Raphael Jacquelin defeated Paul Casey and Simon Dyson by 4 and 3.
It was not a good day for Casey especially, the Englishman - ranked 22nd in the world - putting no fewer than three balls into the omnipresent water inside the opening six holes.
Indeed, Faldo had felt the need to approach Casey early on in the round and make an observation on his swing.
"I didn't want to jump in, but I could see him struggling," said Faldo.
Britain and Ireland's first point was supplied by Bradley Dredge and Phillip Archer, who were 2 and 1 winners over Miguel Angel Jimenez and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, but the Austrian-Finnish pairing of Markus Brier and Mikko Ilonen affirmed the continentals' first day superiority with a 3 and 2 win over Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson. It was left to a final hole birdie from Storm to partner Nick Dougherty to a one-hole win over Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret.
"The two teams have locked horns and we are off and running," said Faldo, who refused to discuss any further the circumstances surrounding Paul McGinley's absence or to confirm or deny that the Irishman had been offered a "wild card" only for the offer to be rescinded.
Curiouser and couriouser!!
For today's second series of fourballs, Faldo has reshuffled his team. Not one of his heavy hitters - Montgomerie, Casey or Rose - managed to feature on a winning pairing yesterday, so Faldo has gone with a "gut feeling" to pair Casey and Rose together in the final fourballs where they face Jimenez and Castano.
Ballesteros has left his pairings unchanged.
Of more concern to Ballesteros, it seemed, was the small size of the galleries.
"Irish people work very hard," he said.
"It is Thursday and I'm sure the galleries will improve over the next few days. It would be great to have a better atmosphere, the golf deserves it."
Fourballs
Continental Europe 3, Britain and Ireland 2
(European names first)
P Hanson and R Karlsson bt C Montgomerie and M Warren 3 and 1.
MA Jimenez and G Fernandez-Castano lost to B Dredge and P Archer 2 and 1.
R Jacquelin and G Havret bt P Casey and S Dyson 4 and 3.
T Bjorn and P Hansen lost to N Dougherty and G Storm 1 hole.
M Brier and M Ilonen bt J Rose and O Wilson 3 and 2.
Fourballs
(European names first)
10.35 - Hanson and Karlsson v Dredge and Archer.
10.50 - Jacquelin and Havret v Montgomerie and Warren.
11.05 - Bjorn and Hansen v Wilson and Dyson.
11.20 - Ilonen and Brier v Dougherty and Storm.
11.35 - Jimenez and Castano v Rose and Casey.
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