He was the German shepherd plodding the steady road home while Monty lolloped along beside him like a British bulldog with new-found friskiness.In yesterday morning’s foursomes they beat Scott Hoch and Scott Verplank with the only flawless round of the day; no bogeys, four birdies and 14 pars. Sam Torrance granted Langer’s request that he be rested for one of yesterday’s sessions because of a sore muscle in his side and the captain partnered Montgomerie with Harrington for the fourballs.It happened so quickly that few realised that this may well be Langer’s last appearance in the Ryder Cup foursomes or fourballs but Montgomerie knew and was quick to lavish praise on a player he first partnered in 1991. “The whole team wanted to play with this guy and I was the lucky one I was honoured to play with him in ‘91 and ‘97. He is the best partner a man can have,” he said.Langer returned the compliment but, typically, he won’t rule himself out of contention for a place in the next team but acknowledges that the chances are very slim It is far more likely he will be the next captain Yesterday’s victory takes him to 111/2 foursomes points. He has 23 Ryder Cup points in total which takes him to second in the European all-time list just behind Nick Faldo’s 25.It seems churlish to mention that his muscle strain on Friday evening helped Mickelson and Toms to recover from being three down with four holes to play to gain a half that pegged the Europeans back to a single-point overnight lead.The Americans did help themselves with three birdies in a row but Montgomerie and Langer offered some assistance with two bogeys in the last four holes. Yesterday, Langer more than made amends with some fancy chipping and putting before breaking his opponents’ hearts with a stunning approach that left Monty a five-footer for a birdie.While Monty was pacing back and forth trying to make up his mind about the line of the putt, he offered his putter to a spectator and said: “Do you fancy having a go.” He took the same mood into the fourballs when he and Harrington piled into the hot American pairing of Mickelson and Toms with a front-nine blast of six birdies between them.Before lunch, Mickelson and Toms had seen off European rookies Pierre Fulke and Phillip Price with the help of an eagle on the 15th but they were three down after five holes.

Montgomerie and Harrington were not only driving well but sending in a succession of second shots far closer to the pin than the Americans could manage. And the fusillade was accompanied by such a display of relaxed confidence from the Scot it couldn’t fail to deepen the American gloom.On the first, after Harrington had put his second to within 10 feet, Monty clouted a simple pitch through the green. “We’ll play yours, Padraig,” he laughed as if he was playing a friendly fourball at the club and still smiling as he sank the putt.By this time of the early afternoon, the sun had come out from the grey clouds of the morning and it really was an attractive, pastoral scene in the heart of England and although Europe were doing very well early on the atmosphere was engrossed rather than electric.But they found the wind to shout Monty’s name as he passed by and he responded. He sank a seven-footer to birdie the second and followed a brilliant second shot to the heart of the par-five third with a 25-foot putt that almost gave him an eagle.With the Americans caught too far on the right of the green, a birdie was enough to win the hole. Held up by the game in front on the fifth, Monty did some gentle exercises to his back, which had caused his appearance to be in doubt almost to the last minute.

He then hit a terrific approach to eight feet and sank the putt for another birdie It seemed he could do no wrong. By the turn, the better-ball score of the Europeans was 30 and although Mickelson in particular mounted a comeback it was the European nose that kept in front – plus a big smile, of course.. An extraordinary day in which Tiger Woods turned from villain to hero and Colin Montgomerie, dodgy back and all, became the strong man of the home team ended with Europe and America locked at 8-8 with the 12 singles to come today. The Americans, helped by two wins from Woods, who had been winless on the opening day, foiled the Europeans at their strongest suit by winning the second series of fourballs 21/2-11/2.