GB and Ireland cash in on Seve decision

Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are well on course to making Seve Ballesteros regret his decision to play himself in the Seve Trophy greensomes.

The Spaniard, ranked 1,231st in the world, left out Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ignacio Garrido instead from the morning session and put himself with Sergio Garcia.

After nine holes, the GB and Ireland team led by three holes thanks to Ballesteros' rustiness.

Greensomes is where both players drive and then choose the better one. So at the first, for example, it did not matter when Ballesteros missed the fairway, but it did when he went to Garcia's ball, hit it short of the green and then failed to hole the eight-foot par putt his partner left him.

Ballesteros and Garcia promptly lost the next two holes as well and watched Westwood and Poulter eagle the long fifth to go four up.

Garcia's superb tee shot to two feet on the 156-yard ninth brought the gap back to three but there was still a mountain to climb for the two Spaniards.

Britain and Ireland's grip on the overall match was not looking so firm elsewhere, though.

Padraig Harrington and Paul Lawrie were three down after 12 to Fredrik Jacobson and Niclas Fasth, the Swedes making an eagle on the long third as they went to the turn in a superb 31 and then birdied the 11th and 12th as well.

Justin Rose and captain Colin Montgomerie shared the first eight holes with Thomas Bjorn and Jose Maria Olazabal and were favourites to win the ninth. But Bjorn holed from 10 feet, Montgomerie missed from nine and the gap was still one after 11.

Brian Davis and Paul Casey, meanwhile, were two down after 10 to Alex Cejka and Raphael Jacquelin, winners of their first two games together.