Continentals take 4-1 fourballs lead

— -- BILLINGHAM, England - Jose Maria Olazabal and his continental Europe team took a 4-1 lead over Britain and Ireland on Thursday in the first set of fourballs in the Seve Trophy.

Captain Colin Montgomerie and Irish rookie Graeme McDowell won the opening match, beating Maarten Lafeber of the Netherlands and Emanuele Canonica of Italy 4-2. The continentals then swept the next four in the Ryder Cuplike event at The Wynyard Club.

That included a victory on the final green for Frenchmen Thomas Levet and Jean-Francois Remesy over the powerful Irish pairing of Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.

"We played well but we have to keep working very hard," Olazabal said. "Our opponents are no piece of cake."

The successful Ryder Cup partnership of David Howell and Paul Casey, who won a crucial point in last year's European Ryder Cup victory, went down 3 and 2 to Sweden's Niklas Fasth and Peter Hanson.

Thomas Bjorn and Henrik Stenson beat the English pairing of Ian Poulter and Nick Dougherty by two holes, while Olazabal and fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez beat Welsh duo Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd 4 and 2.

"We were outplayed and outscored," said Montgomerie, whose team won the two previous editions of this event after losing the first one in 2000. "That has to change. We have to play better."

After Friday's fourballs, there will be four greensomes and four foursomes (alternate shot) matches on Saturday, followed by 10 singles on Sunday. In the greensomes format, both team members hit a drive and then play alternate shot from the best drive.