Australia's Drew Ginn and James Tompkins made all the running down the 2000-metre course on the Idroscalo Lake in Milan, Italy.

BBC: SPORT | Other Sport | Pinsent and Cracknell beaten

England's Poulter, who was one of the early starters to benefit from a lighter breeze and smoother greens on the fast-running course, shared a tie for fourth with Spanish debutant Rafael Cabrera-Bello, South Korea's KJ Choi, Canada's 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, Germany's Alex Cejka and Japanese 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa.

BBC: US Open: Paul Casey ties for lead at Pebble Beach

McCain's campaign has sought to give his running mate a crash course in the sorts of issues likely to feature in the Palin-Biden debate on Thursday night.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Let Palin be Palin