didn't quite understood, but here goes:

while (<INPUT>) {
  chomp;
  ($first, $second) = /^(first column)+\s+(second column)+.*/;   # I d
+on't know what should be matched (digits, chars, ..)
  &saveColumns($first, $second);
  print "whole row: $_\n";
}
[download]

Is this what you ment?

Thanks.

Hotshot