World Cup hopes take a dive

IRELAND as good as wrecked their World Cup hopes at sunny Vilamoura yesterday when Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley could do no better than a five under par 67 in the opening round of fourballs.

That puts the much fancied Irish pair a mammoth eight shots behind English hotshots David Howell and Luke Donald, who shot a fabulous 59, with only three nations, South Africa, Argentina and Portugal behind them in the pecking order.

While accepting they have left themselves with a mountain to climb, Harrington and McGinley are probably clutching at straws when hoping that a drastic deterioration in the weather predicted for the next three days will help them to make up the lost ground. Ironically, they began both nines with a hat-trick of birdies only to quickly lose the momentum and finish each with bogeys.