Woods form causes concern

US captain Tom Lehman may have been contemplating the unthinkable, namely dropping Tiger Woods, as Europe remained in command of the Ryder Cup at the K Club.

Leading 5-3 overnight, Ian Woosnam’s side led by two holes in the first three fourball matches and were all square in the other as Woods continued to struggle badly.

The world number one carved his second shot into trees on the fourth, found a watery grave on the seventh and then missed from four feet to bogey the eighth.

Walking off the eighth tee Lehman took the chance to have a quick word with Woods, who was facing a two-hole deficit to Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.

Westwood’s birdie at the first was only good enough for a half as Furyk once again holed a vital putt, but Clarke’s birdies on the fourth and fifth put the European pair deservedly in front.

Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson were leading by example in the first match, enjoying a two-hole lead at the turn thanks to Karlsson’s chip-in birdie on the second and birdies from Casey on the fourth and eighth.

Sergio Garcia had been the home side’s inspiration on the opening day, the 26-year-old the only one to win a maximum two points, and despite intermittent heavy rain falling he carried on where he left off with a birdie on the second.

Chris DiMarco levelled matters on the next, carrying an anonymous Phil Mickelson as Furyk was carrying Woods, but Jose Maria Olazabal birdied the fourth and eighth to justify Woosnam’s faith in his all-Spanish pairing.

Rookie Zach Johnson was single-handedly providing the Americans with something to cheer against Europe’s only new fourball pairing of Padraig Harrington and Henrik Stenson.

Johnson birdied four of the first five holes alongside Scott Verplank, but that was only good enough for a one-hole lead as Stenson followed his fellow Swede Karlsson in chipping in for birdie on the second, while local favourite Harrington birdied the fourth and fifth.

When Johnson finally faltered on the sixth, Stenson’s par was good enough to get the match back to all square.

Four foursomes matches follow this afternoon with 12 singles on Sunday as Europe look to win the trophy outright for an unprecedented third straight time.

Woods has never sat out a session of play in the Ryder Cup, but has won just nine points out of a possible 22.

He looked to have finally found his touch with a superb approach to the ninth but promptly missed from four feet to remain two down to Clarke and Westwood at the turn.

Garcia’s birdie on the ninth meant he and Olazabal turned three up but Henry’s birdie on the 10th halved the advantage of Casey and Karlsson in the top match, the same pair having squandered a three-hole lead with eight to play yesterday.

Bogeys from Stenson and Harrington gifted the eighth hole to their opponents and put a rare flash of red on the scoreboard.

Making his first appearance in the Ryder Cup since 1999, Olazabal seemed inspired by playing alongside Garcia and birdied the 10th as well to put the home pair four up.

As more heavy rain lashed the course, Clarke fired a brilliant approach to within four feet on the 11th to move three ahead of Woods and Furyk who had managed just one birdie between them so far – an abysmal effort in this format.