Golf: All square at Druid's Glen

Ireland and Great Britain were level 2-2 with holders Continent of Europe after the opening greensomes of the Seve Trophy at Druids Glen in Co Wicklow today.

Irish pair Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley defeated Mathias Gronberg and Alex Cejka on the final green.

Home captain Colin Montgomerie and fellow Scot Paul Lawrie, his partner as well in the 1999 Ryder Cup, lost 2 and 1 to the Danish-Swedish combination of Thomas Bjorn and Robert Karlsson, who went to the turn in a blistering six-under-par 29.

Ian Woosnam and new boy Steve Webster, however, had a notable 3 and 2 victory over Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

But then Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, two up after seven holes, lost 2 and 1 to Frenchmen Raphael Jacquelin and Thomas Levet.

Webster said: ‘‘I enjoyed that - brilliant. I knocked in a 30-footer at the ninth and we never really looked back after that.’’

It was the first of four successive birdies and although Olazabal, fourth in the Masters on Sunday and second on the US Tour money list behind Tiger Woods this season, hit his approach to two feet on the 15th, the match ended on the next green.

Woosnam, winner of the Cisco World Match Play at Wentworth last October, added: ‘‘I think they are one of their strongest pairings and we could have finished 10 under. Steve drove the ball fantastic.’’

They were actually six-under-par for the 16 holes played. Karlsson, one of three Swedes in Seve Ballesteros’ side for the defence of the trophy they won at Sunningdale two years ago, said: ‘‘I was struggling with my driving all day, so it was just as well it was greensomes.’’

It is the form of golf where both players drive at each hole, but then choose only one ball.

Karlsson hit a nine-iron to within two feet of the flag at the first and partner Bjorn, after tapping in, struck his tee shot to the 190-yard second to six feet.

A massive drive from Karlsson - his best of the morning - set up a third successive birdie for the European pair, but this time Montgomerie found the target from 18 feet for a half.

It was a temporary reprieve, though. Karlsson and Bjorn birdied the long fifth, Bjorn holed from eight feet at the sixth and Karlsson from four feet two holes later before the Scots had their first success on the 389-yard ninth, Lawrie pitching to two feet.

Bjorn played a brilliant pitch to the long 11th and won the hole with a birdie when Lawrie and Montgomerie three-putted, but the home pair took three of the next four holes to keep their hopes alive.

However, they had simply left themselves too much to do and, after a half in birdies at the long 16th, a par three was good enough for the Europeans on the next.

Harrington and McGinley went ahead when Gronberg carved his second to the fifth out of bounds and McGinley then converted an eight-foot chance at the short eighth.

Gronberg and Cejka birdied the 11th and 12th to square, but bogeyed the next and the last five were halved, the 16th in birdie fours and the 465-yard last in par fours after Harrington hit a wood onto the green and holed from six feet.

Clarke and Westwood led on three separate occasions, but Jacquelin and Levet birdied the 14th to square matters, then had another on the next.

When the British pair, conquerors of Woods and David Duval at the Ryder Cup three years, three-putted the 16th the writing was on the wall, and their failure to birdie the short 17th meant the four were shaking hands.

Montgomerie kept them together for the afternoon foursomes, but rested Lawrie and Woosnam in favour of Andrew Oldcorn and Paul Casey. Ballesteros, 1,240th in the world, again left himself out along with Gronberg, giving Niclas Fasth his first outing.

Fewer than a dozen spectators were gathered around the first tee for the 7.30am start to the contest, for which the winners receive £95,000 (€154,000) per man and the losers £55,000 (€89,000).

Continental Europe won the inaugural match by a single point, with Ballesteros surprisingly beating Montgomerie 2 and 1 in the singles.