Monty leads by example

Colin Montgomerie was greeted with a deafening roar this morning as he reached the first tee in heavy rain, and despite the incredible pressure both he and Toms somehow found the fairway with their opening drives.

The first two holes were halved before Montgomerie birdied the third and fourth to go two up and give those following behind an early boost.

Stewart Cink struck an early blow for the Americans by taking the first two holes against the unbeaten Sergio Garcia with birdies, but Garcia hit back with a birdie of his own to win the third.

Blue was the predominant colour on the scoreboard however, Montgomerie also making birdies at the third and fourth to go two up on Toms, Paul Casey winning the first against Jim Furyk and Robert Karlsson doing the same against none other than world number one Tiger Woods.

One piece of potential bad news for the home side came with the news that Lee Westwood was reportedly suffering from a high temperature, although the 33-year-old was still going to play the 11th singles match against Chris DiMarco.

Garcia had won four points out of four over the first two days but Cink was simply inspired early on. Birdies at the fourth and fifth increased his lead and a par was good enough on the sixth to go four up.

Montgomerie remained one up as the top match raced to the turn in just one hour 45 minutes, while Casey was now two up on Furyk after a birdie on the fifth.

Woods had recovered from losing the first with three birdies in four holes to move two clear, but Ireland’s Paul McGinley was two up after three on rookie JJ Henry.

Darren Clarke received a huge cheer as he began his match with Zach Johnson by halving the opening two holes.