Casey title defence on track

Paul Casey, winner of the HSBC World Match Play Championship on his debut last year, is going well again at Wentworth today.

After a fog delay of nearly two hours Casey had a hat-trick of birdies from the fourth to take command of Jerry Kelly - and after the American had drawn back level by the 12th, he went away again to lead by three at the halfway stage of their 36-hole clash.

Justin Rose, Colin Montgomerie and Open champion Padraig Harrington were all in a spot of trouble early on, though.

Rose trailed another American, Hunter Mahan, by three after 17; Montgomerie trailed by the same margin to six-time winner Ernie Els after 13, and Harrington trailed Dane Anders Hansen by two after 15 holes.

A pitch to five feet on the long fourth was the start of Casey's fine run, and he followed it by holing a 40-footer from just off the next green and then hit an eight-iron to eight feet at the sixth.

Kelly did have his hopes boosted, however, when Casey - conqueror of Retief Goosen, Mike Weir, Colin Montgomerie and Shaun Micheel a year ago - putted right off the green at the 396-yard seventh.

Birdies at the 11th and 12th squared things up. But Casey hit a powerful drive and eight-iron to six feet on the 470-yard next, then won the next two with pars.

Once more Kelly fought back, making birdie on the 383-yard 16th. But his top-seeded opponent, with nothing better than a 10th-place finish since March, replied in kind on the par-five 17th.

Neither was able to birdie the long last.

Needing to reach the semi-finals to move into the world's top 10 for the first time in his career, Rose double-bogeyed the first and bogeyed the third - he was in sand both times - to fall two down to Mahan.

Like Kelly, he battled back and levelled the match at the start of the back nine. But Rose's putting had not been rock-steady - and after a missed six-footer put another bogey against his name on the 15th, his opponent birdied the next.

The hold-up placed a question mark over whether the first round would be completed before nightfall.

Montgomerie's eagerly-awaited clash with six-time winner Els was the last match out, and their afternoon round was not going to begin until around 3.30pm.

Els struck first when Montgomerie three-putted from the fringe of the first. But the Scot, with four wins on the course himself, sank a 25-footer at the next and levelled again with another two on the 212-yard fifth after his opponent's birdie four on the fourth had put him ahead for a second time.

Els, however, birdied the sixth and ninth. Montgomerie, beaten twice before in the event by the world number five and never ahead in either of those games, bogeyed the seventh - and the gap had been established.

Harrington had bogeys at the first, third, fifth and ninth in an untidy outward 38 - the worst scoring of the morning - and after starting the back nine in brighter mood with a birdie, he dropped another shot at the 15th to go two down once more to Hansen, winner of the BMW PGA title on the course in May.

Swedes Henrik Stenson and Niclas Fasth - he missed the eve-of-tournament pro-am with bronchitis - were four and two up on American Woody Austin and Argentina's Andres Romero respectively after 14 holes.

South African Rory Sabbatini led Soren Hansen by one after 16, and US Open champion Angel Cabrera came back from two down to lead Retief Goosen by two as they went for a 30-minute break at halfway.