Morning fourball: When the Ryder Cup finally broke into life, it came in the gloaming. The storm had passed over, and to most people's astonishment the sun was threatening to illuminate the trees behind the first tee box at The K Club.

Good tidings; no weather catastrophes; no wind-trashed hospitality areas or sunken greens. Thousands gathered around the clubhouse and stands that encircle the elevated driving area, and as Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk threaded their way through the barking and hooting of those who had arrived in the dark to take their positions, The K Club finally assumed the surreal, other-worldly feel of a Ryder Cup venue.

"That walk to the first tee is something I will never forget," said Montgomerie. "It is without doubt the noisiest reception I've ever had stepping onto the tee in the Ryder Cup. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck."

Players' wives skittered across the fairway; rolling mauls of photographers jostled for the first frames; and the iconic figure of Woods once more added a breath of Hollywood to the opening moments.

Mixing with a gaggle of caddies, officials, at least one tycoon and numerous referees, from the crowded tee, the four finally stepped out.

For Woods the film theme held true and although he and Furyk would take five hours and 18 holes to defeat Harrington and Montgomerie and draw first blood for the USA, it was the best player in the world, except for a few brief cameo scenes, who played the support act to Furyk.

There was all the talk of Woods taking the four US rookies out to dinner after the American Ryder Cup team was selected, to ease their minds in the face of this new team game they would be playing in Ireland. But there is no accounting for making words shape performance, and as Woods tugged at his cap to acknowledge the crowd when his name was called, apart from a few squabbling rooks in the trees overhead, the course fell silent.

Tiger swished and the ball took off on a treacherous arc. It carried the fairway, carried the gallery and carried into the lake on the left with a heart-sinking plop. The Ryder Cup had begun.

Already with a twist.

In their hearts it was not what the crowd had wanted. They wanted Woods growling and stalking the course. They looked to him to savage the holes. They longed for a European win, but Woods is too revered a figure to draw hostility, even when in opposition.

Still, it set a tone that Woods struggled to shake off. It also flicked a switch in Furyk's head: he would have to be the leader of this round; he would be the rock.

And so it was.

Furyk's short putt on the first put the US one up. That held as medium and long putts from both sides shaved the cups. They had little trouble hitting greens but the balls weren't dropping, and after four the US still led.

No crowd roars by then but there was a deep, collective groan on the 440-yard fifth, when Woods missed from four feet to allow Europe level.

The tension had not yet broken and even Harrington and Monty struggled to lift a crowd begging for something to shout about.

Harrington levelled from nine feet on the sixth, then Monty made par on the next for Europe to go one up. By then Woods, at three over par for the first seven holes, was almost a tragic figure. It was Hollywood horror.

But that was soon to change over a pivotal stretch before and after the turn. Woods's first birdie arrived when he hit to four feet on the par-three eighth hole. Furyk embraced him but Tiger's competitive face didn't crack.

On the ninth Furyk's long putt took the USA to two up, and while Harrington's up and down for birdie from the sand on the 10th brought it back to one hole, it merely interrupted the American march.

Two long putts from Woods over the next two holes broke the back of the match. A sequence of four birdies over five holes was enough of a streak to force Europe into higher-risk golf.

But when the putts wouldn't drop on the 12th and 13th what could they do?

"To go from one up to three down was a killer," admitted Montgomerie afterwards.

While the Europeans doggedly brought the match down the 18th with the US one up, they had left it too late. Furyk was on the 537-yard par five in two. Monty was too, but his contorted gaze across the plains of the 18th green told its own story. With Harrington in the bunker, Europe had to eagle the hole to halve the match. But yesterday morning that was simply beyond them.

Harrington and Montgomerie lost to

Woods and Furyk 1 hole