Ryder Cup Delayed By Rain

The Ryder Cup has been thrown into chaos after play was suspended after just two hours due to heavy rain.

The matches started on time at 7.45 am as Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer got Europe's campaign underway against Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, they were two up when play came to a halt.

There was already on water on the course at the beginning of the morning but in the two hours of play puddles began to litter the bunkers and the greens.

Officials were hoping to get play underway once more not long after lunch but the rain has continued to pour and a resumption time has now been put back to 4:00pm.

With this serve delay it looks like the Ryder Cup will now be forced to conclude on a Monday for the first time in the tournament's history.

Despite the weather it was a positive start for Europe as they led in three of the four matches.

Rookies Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy were one up against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar after four holes.

Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher were having similar success against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker as they were also one up.

But it was the USA who were ahead in the fourth match as Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton were up against Luke Donald and Harrington after two holes, which had taken two hours to complete.

And while captain Colin Montgomerie was disappointed by the weather he was happy with Europe's start.

Speaking to the BBC he said: "We came out of the box very quickly," he added. "Our team are happier than our opponents.

"Ross Fisher did well and Ian Poulter's pumped up for this - especially playing Tiger Woods. Martin Kaymer hasn't started firing yet and Lee Westwood's swinging the club particularly well and he's winning the holes.

"It doesn't matter who's winning the holes. Lee's right up for the battle. I wanted to stay on in a perfect world but there was nothing we could do. I hope the spectators understood our decision.

"It's been a super start and I just hope we can maintain this momentum."

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw