Europe Face Uphill Struggle After Faldo's Picks Backfire

Only a fool would draw definitive conclusions from the opening exchanges of any Ryder Cup but after a day at Valhalla Golf Club, Kentucky characterized by brilliant golf and boisterous behavior this much can be said of the 37th edition of the sport's most compelling event: It won't be a European walkover.

Paul Azinger and his fist-pumping, high-fiving, crowd-inciting men will return to the golf course this morning with awith a three-point advantage over the visiting team, having won five and a half points from an available eight. Meanwhile, Faldo and his players will arrive knowing they are the first European side to "lose" the opening day since 1995. It might have been worse for but Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen stole an unlikely half-point in the final match of the day when both JB Holmes and the, frankly, insufferable Boo Weekly hit their tee shots in the water.

With the players at his disposal, not least the majestic Padraig Harrington, the Englishman is entitled to believe he can pull off a triumph on Sunday afternoon but he would be best advised not to bank on it. Only Justin Rose and Ian Poulter managed to win a full point for the visitors, beating the weak American pairing of Ben Curtis and Steve Stricker 3&2 in the afternoon four balls. That victory came as a blessed relief to the English pair, who had a three-hole lead in their morning foursomes against Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell only to lose on the final green.

Equally, Faldo, who had been widely criticized for selecting Poulter as a wild-card pick, might have seen that solitary triumph as some kind of vindication. If it was, then it was scant consolation on a day when he made a number of obvious mistakes with his pairings, not least splitting the formidable duo of Sergio García and Lee Westwood for the afternoon session.

Last night he was faced with the task of reviving the spirits of the Spaniard, who managed only a half-point from two - the worst single day of his hitherto magnificent Ryder Cup career, as well as explaining to the rookie Oliver Wilson why he didn't strike a ball in anger all day. Received wisdom has it that a captain should play all 12 players on day one.

Faldo eschewed such thinking, just as he eschewed the clamour to choose the on-form Darren Clarke as one of his two captain's picks. It he turns out to be proved right, then he will be lauded. If not, then the critics are lining up.

His opposite number, Paul Azinger, did play all 12 players, but that was not his most significant achievement. The American was cussed as a player, and has been cussed as a captain. Clearly, he has found a way to inject the same spirit into his players. Even Phil Mickelson looked interested and when the languid Californian is interested he is, as they say in these parts, aaawesome. He and Harrington played against each other in the morning foursomes and afternoon four balls, and as they matched great shot with great shot, outrageous putt with outrageous putt, it was as if their respective partners had retired to the clubhouse leaving two champions to punch each other senseless.

In the end, Mickelson prevailed, winning one and a half points from two matches to the Irishman's half point, but that was largely because of the contribution made by Anthony Kim, his partner for the day. The Next Big Thing of American golf looked anything but as he succumbed to nerves. Nevertheless, what he lacked in birdies he more than made up for in enthusiasm.

Kim was not, however, the cheerleader-in-chief. That honor - if honor is the right word - belonged to Boo Weekley, who was paired with JB Holmes in the fourballs against Lee Westwood and Soren Hansen. The Americans were ahead for most of the match, which was quite an achievement given that Weekley spent more time rousing the crowd than he did lining up his shots.

"Feel free to cheer when the Europeans miss a putt," US captain Paul Azinger had implored the Kentucky galleries. With the red, white and blue tide sweeping across the scoreboards, they were more than happy to do that, which rendered Weekley's antics unnecessary and unsportsmanlike.

The revelry that accompanied the home players' afternoon efforts was in stark contrast to what had gone earlier in the day, when Azinger's hopes of establishing an intimidating atmosphere for the visiting players suffered an early setback with the appearance of a six-foot cardboard cut-out of Colin Montgomerie in a kilt, and some good early play from the Europeans.

For a while there was a familiar look to the scoreboards dotted around the Valhalla course, as the European pairings were all business, and the American all over the place. Hunter Mahan took the prize for most nervous in show, but gradually he began to find some form and by the day's end he and his partner Justin Leonard had won two points from two matches.

Volatility is in the DNA of this golf tournaments but over the years there have been few opening sessions of Ryder Cup in which the momentum has swung so comprehensively. Europe were cruising at the start of the foursomes and staggering by the end. Alas for Faldo and his men, it remained that way until the end of play.