April 21, 2002	Sunday	Safar 7, 1423

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WICKLOW (Ireland), April 20: A typical outrageous display by Continental Europe captain Severiano Ballesteros prevented a Britain and Ireland clean-sweep in the Seve Trophy on Saturday morning.

But not even Ballesteros’s heroics could stop the home side cruising four points ahead with afternoon foursomes and Sunday’s singles to come at Druids Glen as they clinched the fourballs 3-1.

Britain and Ireland captain Colin Montgomerie led by example, producing a run of birdies with a stunning putting performance, as his side forged into an 8-4 lead after three rounds of matches.

But even though his team look like confirming their favourites’ tag, Montgomerie could not outdo his counterpart’s remarkable morning in high winds and sweeping rain.

Teaming up with his record-setting Ryder Cup partner Jose Maria Olazabal, Ballesteros produced some magical moments as they overcame the previously unbeaten Irish pairing of Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley 2 and 1 to secure Europe’s only point.

Ballesteros’s memorable par on the 13th, the toughest hole on the course, was typical of his never-say-die spirit.

He found the hazard with his drive, took a penalty and made the green, despite hitting from a desperate hanging-lie, then rammed home a 25-footer at speed to save the hole.

That preserved a one-hole advantage for the Spaniards.

Then Ballesteros rubbed salt into the wounds of the Irishmen by claiming a birdie on the 14th.

Ballesteros saved his most outrageous act of the morning, though, for the short 17th. With Harrington only five feet away and likely to reduce the Spaniards’ advantage to only one hole with just the 18th to come, Ballesteros chipped in from the bunker nestling alongside the lake for an unforgettable birdie to close out the match.

Montgomerie’s contribution was telling as he and Ian Woosnam overwhelmed Swedes Robert Karlsson and Mathias Gronberg 4 and 3 as his new long putter produced six birdies in 11 holes.

Paul Lawrie and Paul Casey added to Britain and Ireland’s points by accelerating to birdies on the 14th and 15th to outdo Dane Thomas Bjorn and Swede Niclas Fasth 2 and 1.

In a tense last match out that lasted nearly six hours, Darren Clarke, shrugging off a painful knee, and Lee Westwood, finally edged out Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin at the 18th.

Remarkably, Jimenez repeated Ballesteros’s feat of chipping in at the 17th to give Europe just a chance of squaring the morning, but Clarke’s fine approach at the last to par, clinched the match by one hole to extend his side’s lead.—Reuters