Mother Nature wreaked havoc with the Ryder Cup here Friday as torrential rain forced the suspension of play after Europe seized the early initiative at a water-logged Celtic Manor.
Play was halted with the Europeans leading their American rivals in three of the four morning fourballs as the 38th edition of the fiercely contested bienniel contest got under way in testing conditions.
European Tour chief referee John Paramor said officials had been left with no option to halt play as conditions worsened rapidly following the first tee-off at 7:45am (0645 GMT).
“This morning it was pretty rough but all the players were keen to get going so we did,” Paramor said.
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“But it kind of deteriorated to such an extent that I contacted both captains … everyone came to an agreement to suspend play.”
It was the first time play had been suspended at the Ryder Cup since 1997, when Europe defeated the United States at Valderrama, Spain.
There was no indication of when players may return to the course as the rain continued to fall, with tournament officials saying they would make an announcement about a possible resumption at 4:00pm local time (1500 GMT).
The deluge also caused problems for the United States team, who quickly scrambled to buy new waterproofs after their official kit started to leak.
“We were disappointed with the performance of them, and you know, we just fixed it,” US captain Corey Pavin said. “They were not doing what we wanted them to do so we went out and bought some more waterproofs.”
Europe captain Colin Montgomerie admitted he had wanted to stay on the course after watching his fired up players storm into an early lead.
“Yes, I wanted to stay on, in a perfect world, but at the same time, there was nothing we could do,” Montgomerie said.
Earlier, the United States duo of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson hit the opening shots before a packed grandstand at the first tee, where football match-style chants of “Europe, Europe” and “Ole Ole Ole” filled the air.
The intimidating atmosphere and hostile conditions appeared to affect Johnson the most, the 26-year-old rookie slicing his shot off the first tee to roars of delight from the pro-European galleries.
Mickelson and Johnson were quickly one down in their contest with Europe’s powerful duo of Lee Westwood and US PGA champion Martin Kaymer, Westwood making a birdie on the second hole to draw first blood.
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By the time play was suspended, Westwood and Kaymer were two up after five holes. “We’re a little bit disappointed because we got some good momentum going but I don’t see any reason why we can’t that momentum going again once we get back out,” Westwood said after play was halted.
In the second match, Northern Irish duo Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell were locked in what was shaping up to be a fierce battle with Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar.
McIlroy and McDowell took the lead with a solid par on the first as the Americans bogeyed, before Cink rolled in a sensational long putt on the par-three third to pull it back to all square.
Yet another bogey from Cink on the fourth handed the lead back to McDowell and McIlroy after four holes.
Cink later said he welcomed the suspension of play.
“It was even hard to call it a golf course at times,” Cink said. “It was a good thing for them to call off play because the Ryder Cup is too important an event for its integrity to be compromised.”
The other matches saw world number one Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker also fall behind to England’s Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher at the first hole, when Fisher made a solid par and the Americans both bogeyed.
But Woods birdied the par-five second after a superb third shot left him with a six-footer to level the match.
Poulter responded in kind on the third, draining a long putt from the edge of the green to birdie and regain the lead.
The only bright spot for Pavin was the form of rookies Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton who went two-up after two holes in their contest with Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington.
Pavin’s decision to start Watson and Overton had raised eyebrows when the pairings were announced on Thursday, but the move rapidly appeared to be an inspired gambit as first Overton then Watson sank birdies.
Pavin was relaxed about the explosive start made by Europe as play was halted. “It’s early on and there’s a lot to go. We will see how it develops as we go along,” he said.
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“It makes you even more determined to win the big games, so the important thing for us is to get that win. Bath make just one change following their 31-16 victory over Sale with Matt Banahan replacing Tom Biggs on the left wing.
