Darren Clarke raised the roof when he closed-out his match in the most dramatic manner possible by chipping in for birdie at the 16th as Ian Woosnam's men take an increased 7.5-4.5 lead into this afternoon's foursomes.

Once more Clarke was paired alongside his best mate and fellow wild card pick Lee Westwood and  between them they comprehensively defeated America's top pairing of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk 3 and 2.

Many had questioned the selection of these two but what a way to silence the doubters and both knew what they were capable of producing.

"People said we were a gamble," explained a delighted Clarke after holing from just off the green at the par five 16th. "However, the two people who knew it wasn't a gamble were Lee and I."

It means the supposed dream pairing of Woods and Furyk, the number one and two ranked players in the world respectively, have returned just one point from three matches.  
     
Earlier in the day the Spanish tour de force of Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia put the first points on the board for Europe as they comprehensively beat America's second seed pairing of Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco. Early European birdies meant Tom Lehman's men had no answer and were never up in the match at any point..

Garcia has been in inspirational form and his statistics from the K Club currently read: played three, won three. In fact the 26-year-old has gone eight straight Ryder Cup matches now without defeat as he picked up four and a half points out of five at Oakland Hills in 2004.

"I've been very comfortable playing alongside Sergio on both days," explained Olazabal (40) of his younger compatriot. "We got a good start today and that was key to winning the match."

Garcia was equally complimentary towards one of the veterans of this event.  "Jose was amazing today. He didn't miss a fairway all day long and that kept us solid as we made a lot of birdies in tough conditions," said Garcia.

It was as you were in the top match due to the fact that Paul Casey holed a crunch five-footer to win the 18th and ensure he and Robert Karlsson gained a halve match against Stewart Cink and JJ Henry - just as they did in yesterday's opening series of fourballs.

It appeared the Americans were set for a crucial win after JJ Henry stepped up to the plate once more when weighing in with an eagle at the 16th before following it up with a birdie at the difficult 17th.

That gave the Americans a one hole advantage playing the last but Casey held his nerve to secure the halve when Henry's 12 footer for the win agonisingly slid by the cup.

The last match out included Padraig Harrington and Henrik Stenson and they struggled to contain inspirational rookie Zach Johnson who was flanked by Scott Verplank, making his first outing in this Ryder Cup.

The Americans were by far the hottest pairing of the morning with Johnson finding his range to accrue six birdies of his own. And to be fair to the Europeans they took it in their side and contained  the barrage for long periods. Harrington looked to have got it back to one down when chipped in at the 15th for birdie but yet again Johnson answered with a birdie.

In the end it was a bridge too far as the Americans gained their first fourball win of the morning by a 2 and 1 margin. It was fitting that Johnson would put the final nail in the coffin when he holed for his seventh birdie at the 17th. The Europeans were never up in the match but overall Woosie's men won the morning series 2.5-1.5.

While all the fourball drama was unfolding the respective captains were busy submitting their afternoon pairings under the much-needed shelter of umbrellas because of the torrential downpours.  Mind you, the autumnal sun appeared as quickly as the rain disappeared. Typically unpredictable Irish weather.

Woosie opted to reunite the popular Irish pairing of Harrington and Paul McGinley for this afternoon's foursomes. Perhaps it's fair to say they never took their chances in yesterday's halved match with Chad Campbell and Zach Johnson. This time they face a tough ask against Woods and Furyk, who have played together for the fourth straight time, in the bottom foursomes match.

Garcia and Luke Donald will team up once more and take on Mickelson and David Toms in the top foursomes match while Colin Montgomerie returns to the action to rejoin Westwood, who halved with Mickelson and DiMarco yesterday. Westwood and Montgomerie take on Chad Campbell and debutant Vaughn Taylor.

The third afternoon foursomes sees Casey pair up with his English countryman David Howell against Cink and Johnson.