Bjorn ruled out by neck injury

Thomas Bjorn withdrew with a neck injury just before the start of his Seve Trophy singles against Paul Casey at El Saler in Spain.

And because it happened so late Casey was awarded the match to put Britain and Ireland 11-8 up.

They needed 3 1/2 points from the other nine games to retain the trophy.

As in the Ryder Cup, if players are injured more than 30 minutes before games start then the captain of the unaffected team nominates a player to take a half - the so-called envelope system.

Bjorn, however, thought he might be okay and it was only in his final warm-up that it was decided he was not fit enough.

Major interest in the games that did take place was the one between the two captains Colin Montgomerie and Seve Ballesteros.

Montgomerie lost the first two clashes between the two and went two-up after five, but by the turn they were back to all square.