Day's first match sets the tone

In the old cowboy films, the bad guy always wore black. So, as Hal Sutton strutted onto the first tee around eight o'clock yesterday morning with a stylish black stetson atop his head, the omens weren't as he might have wished, especially for his dream-team combo of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

As Sutton - who'd warned his star duo that there "would be hell to pay" if they lost - provided final words of inspiration, little did he realise he was dispatching them to a golfing nightmare. To rub salt into the American wounds, it was Colin Montgomerie, so often portrayed as the baddie when Stateside, and his sidekick Padraig Harrington who were to be the chief gunslingers.

These days, Monty is no baddie. He looks good, having lost some 36lb since July, and he doesn't scowl or stomp nearly as often as he used to. And, while he can still hear a butterfly landing in an adjoining meadow, faraway noises don't distract the Scot as much as they once did.

One area where he hasn't changed, though, is in his predatory instincts when it comes to the Ryder Cup, where he is closing in on Seve Ballesteros' record as leading European points winner.

"It was super to have Padraig as a partner," he said. "He's fabulous, really fabulous. I had a little lump in my throat on the first tee. I mean, to be standing there after the four months I've had and all I've come through. There was real emotion there. I took a look across at Tiger and Phil and I thought, 'right, I've got back into the arena I believe I belong in', that I've got myself back here and I was proud."

Yesterday, instead of getting the Mrs Doubtfire jibes aimed at him in past Ryder Cups in the US, he was afforded respect in the bleachers around the South Course. And he deserved it. In combining with Harrington to eventually defeat Woods and Mickelson 2 and 1, the European pair inflicted a massive body blow on their opponents and pretty much silenced the large, expectant galleries.

In many ways, it was a surreal day. Over 48,000 people had clogged the entrance gates while it was still dark to line the fairways, and yet, from the start - when Montgomerie and Harrington won the first hole with a birdie, a lead they were never to relinquish and which set the scene for those following behind - it was a morning for the European players, and their considerable army of supporters, to bask in the glory of some splendid golf.

"It was a big match for us, a big match for the team to get a good start," observed Harrington. "I suppose they were expected to win, so that gave us a great opportunity. We knew we were probably playing for more than a point in terms of team spirit, so we were probably the right guys to do it."

The seemingly dysfunctional pairing of Woods, ranked number two in the world, and Mickelson, ranked number four, didn't know what hit them.

"You should have practised on the South Course, not across the road," quipped one wag to Mickelson as he strode down the fourth fairway.

At this stage, Montgomerie and Harrington had marched into a two-hole lead, having birdied the opening three holes, and Sutton had replaced his stetson with a blue Team USA baseball cap. It didn't bring any change of luck, as the on-fire Scot rolled a 20-footer up the hill for their fourth consecutive birdie. Woods followed in with a five-footer to halve the hole.

If Montgomerie was fired up, Harrington was even more so. On the fifth, hitting only a three-wood off the tee, the Dubliner was so pumped with adrenalin his tee-shot ran into the creek that crosses the fairway at 330 yards. When Woods and Mickelson peppered the flag, reducing the margin to one hole, it seemed it was a case of "game on".

It wasn't, really. On the sixth, with Harrington appraising a 12-foot, uphill putt for birdie, Montgomerie saved him any further anticipation by rolling in a 30-footer with a vicious left-to-right break that ran over a ridge before dropping into the cup.

"If you've got any suggestions, I'll take them into consideration," said Sutton to the crowd outside the rope who were watching incredulously as their dream pairing were sucked into a nightmarish scenario.

On and on it went. Woods and Mickelson - who exchanged the minimum of words - hung on desperately, searching for a chink in the armour of their opponents.

Increasingly, Harrington became the strong man in the partnership. His driving was exceptional, his approach play superb and his putting exemplary. They turned one up, losing the ninth, before regaining the two-hole advantage on the 12th where Harrington rolled in a four-footer for birdie. On the 14th, the Dubliner's approach spun back to three feet and he rolled in the birdie putt to give them a three-hole advantage.

All that was required was to keep the door shut, and Montgomerie and Harrington did so and could shake hands with their opponents on the 17th.

But experience tells players to stay in the present, not to let their focus race ahead. As Harrington later observed, "It's a long week, and it will come down to the end of the order in the singles. What this does is get us a good start, that's all. It keeps us in the game."

Still, the foundations have been laid. The weekend will determine if the Europeans build a cathedral or a hovel.