Montgomerie leads by example

Captain Colin Montgomerie and debutant Graeme McDowell gave holders Britain and Ireland the first point in the Seve Trophy at The Wynyard near Middlesbrough today.

They beat the Dutch-Italian combination of Maarten Lafeber and Emanuele Canonica four and two – and were never caught from the moment Montgomerie sank a 25-foot eagle putt on the opening green.

Continental Europe looked like taking a first-day lead. Thomas Bjorn and Henrik Stenson combined for a two-hole victory over Ian Poulter and Nck Dougherty and they led in the bottom three games.

Their new captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Miguel Angel Jimenez were three-up with three to play on Welsh pair Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge, while David Howell and Paul Casey went from two-up to one-down after 14 holes to Swedes Niclas Fasth and Peter Hanson.

Irish pair Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington were two-up after seven, but then one-down with four to go versus Frenchmen Thomas Levet and Jean-Francois Remesy.