Europe leads early as heavy rains halt Ryder Cup

[October 01, 2010]  NEWPORT, Wales (AP) -- Workers scurried around the greens with squeegees, furiously pushing the water away before every putt. Players sloshed down soaked fairways, desperately searching for a spot to hit from that was somewhat dry. Finally, there was no way to go on.

The Ryder Cup was halted in the middle of the four-ball matches Friday morning because of heavy rain that turned Celtic Manor into a waterlogged mess.

"The first thing I need is to find a hair dryer," quipped PGA championship winner Martin Kaymer, who played the opening match for Europe with Lee Westwood.

The home team was off to a good start, leading three of the four best-ball matches when play was suspended for the first time since the 1997 Ryder Cup in Spain.

"It's a shame," U.S. assistant captain Jeff Sluman said. "There's 10 years of planning that went into this, and we're held hostage by the weather."

The forecast called for the rain to move out by early afternoon.

"We will see play again this afternoon," said Mike McClellan, the Ryder Cup meteorologist. "I can't speak for the golf course, but weather-wise we should be fine."

The Twenty Ten course, which was built especially for the Ryder Cup, has a complex drainage system that allows the water to flow off quickly. But first, it had to stop raining. Officials said they already had contingency plans to extend the event until Monday if necessary.

"Our people, we feel, probably need about an hour of pushing water to make it better than it was when we started," said John Paramor, the European Tour's chief referee. "So that is our goal."

The players, meanwhile, headed back to the clubhouse and tried to pass the time. Ian Poulter tweeted a picture of Padraig Harrington sleeping on the floor of the European locker room, using a bag as a pillow.

The defending champion Americans got off to a shaky start, missing the fairway with five of their first six tee shots. Phil Mickelson was the only one to hit it where he wanted -- and he flew his next shot over the green.

Amazingly, the only match the U.S. was leading was the last one. That's the slot where captain Corey Pavin made the heavily debated decision to pair up two rookies, Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton, but they rewarded his faith early on with birdies at the first two holes.

Overton rolled in a long putt from behind the first green, and the long-hitting Watson made birdie at the par-5 second for a 2-up lead on Harrington and Luke Donald.

The Europeans, trying to recapture the gold chalice they lost at Valhalla two years ago, were leading the other three matches.

Westwood and Kaymer bolted to a 2-up advantage through five holes on Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in the leadoff match. Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy were 1 up on Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar after four holes, the same edge that Poulter and Ross Fisher held on Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker through No. 3.

The U.S. hoped the delay might stem the European momentum, or at least clear out the nasty weather. European captain Colin Montgomerie felt his team had an edge playing in damp conditions.

"It's not fun for anyone, agreed," Monty said shortly after the opening shot. "But it's probably less fun for the Americans. In America, when it rains it usually thunders, too, and you can't play. I just hope it doesn't get so bad the course gets so waterlogged, that we can't play."

That's just what happened.

Even with the players able to take relief in the fairway, there simply wasn't any place to drop without winding up in another puddle.

"If this was any other golf tournament, it would have been stopped earlier," said Thomas Bjorn, an assistant captain for the Europeans. "It's too wet to really continue. We're in a situation where people are considering dropping from fairways into the rough. Then it just becomes a bit silly."

The atmosphere was electric shortly after sunrise -- well, assuming it rose behind the thick, gray clouds -- as thousands of umbrella-toting fans chanted "Ole! Ole! Ole!" in hopes of spurring on a European team that featured six rookies. An amphitheater-style stadium was built around the first tee, allowing 2,000 fans to watch the opening shots.

The Americans have five rookies of their own -- plus the world's top-ranked player, Woods.

Pavin decided to send out Woods in the third slot, instead of the opening or closing matches that he played in previous Ryder Cups. Maybe he needed a change after struggling through a winless year on the course and the collapse of his marriage, done in by numerous extramarital affairs.

Woods made a birdie at the par-5 second hole, laying up with his second shot and sticking a wedge to 6 feet. But Poulter pushed the Europeans back into the lead at No. 3, rolling in a 25-foot birdie.

Pavin got off to a shaky start at the opening ceremony.

First, he overlooked Cink while introducing the 12-man U.S. team. The captain made a quick recovery when he realized his gaffe, urging the crowd to give "a special, special welcome" to the good-natured Cink. But then Pavin said his player was from Sea Island, Ga. -- actually the residence of assistant captain Davis Love III -- instead of suburban Atlanta.

Of course, you don't get a point for acing the introductions.

The only thing that really counts is what happens on the course -- assuming the rain lets up.

[Associated Press; By PAUL NEWBERRY]

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