The stars are showing up for Europe so far at this 45th Ryder Cup.
The Americans? Not so much.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and LIV standout Bryson DeChambeau went a combined 0-4 on Friday at Bethpage Black while Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood enter Saturday a collective 5-0-1. As a result, the visitors lead 5.5-2.5 through two sessions.
“It’s a great day for Europe,” McIlroy said. “We would have absolutely taken this last night.”
This marks the 12th time in the last 18 Ryder Cups that Europe has the advantage after Day 1. They’ve only lost the Cup in two of those 12 editions.
Said U.S. captain Keegan Bradley: “We’ve only played 28 percent of the points. This is first quarter. We’ve still got three quarters to go. I’ve got a lot of faith in my boys.”
Here are recaps of the four Friday afternoon fourball matches at Bethpage Black:
Jon Rahm/Sepp Straka (Europe) def. Scottie Scheffler/J.J. Spaun, 3 and 2
A nightmare is now playing out for the Americans as their world No. 1, Scheffler, is 0-2 and can’t seem to buy a putt. For the second straight session, the U.S. won the first hole of the first match, with Spaun rolling in a short birdie, but then it was all Europe in this one.
Straka tied the match by chipping in for birdie at the par-4 second, and Rahm did most of the rest. The Spaniard holed a 16-footer for birdie to win No. 3, a 17-footer for birdie to claim No. 8, and a 9-footer for birdie to take No. 11 and give his side a 3-up advantage. Meanwhile, Scheffler didn’t make anything longer than 22 inches until the par-4 15th hole – he went 18 straight holes not holing anything more than that. He didn’t card his first birdie until the par-5 13th. But even when he finally got a 23-footer for birdie to fall at No. 15, Rahm canceled him out with a 20-foot make to tie the hole.
The shot of this match was a 30-foot birdie bomb by Straka at No. 14, though Spaun poured a 9-footer on top to tie that hole. Straka ended the match with a 6-foot birdie make at the par-4 16th, which matched a Scheffler birdie from similar distance.
“To have Jon today was great because I did not have my game, and especially for the first little bit,” Straka said. “But he kept reminding me that it’s there. Just keep pushing and he told me to just put a confident swing on the last hole and I did.”
The European victory moved to Rahm to 2-0 in as many sessions. He’s now 8-3-3 for his career and hasn’t lost in team play since 2018.
Scheffler is now 1-4-2 in team play, and per Justin Ray, he’s the first world No. 1 to go winless in two Friday matches since Tiger Woods in 2002.
“It really just came down to me not holing enough putts,” Scheffler said. “… But overall it was a good fight at the end, and we’ll come back out tomorrow.”
Tommy Fleetwood/Justin Rose (Europe) def. Ben Griffin/Bryson DeChambeau, 1 up
DeChambeau hammered another drive just short of the green to set up birdie at No. 1, but Fleetwood matched, and no side would take the lead until DeChambeau made a 13-footer for birdie at the par-4 fifth.
Griffin thought he’d doubled the lead when he canned a 53-foot birdie at the par-4 seventh, but Rose quickly quelled the energy by matching from 41 feet.
Fleetwood then tied things with a 14-foot birdie from the fairway cut at No. 11 before adding birdies at No. 14 (7 feet) and No. 16 (18 feet) to guarantee the Euros at least a halve.
DeChambeau only carded two birdies and didn’t hole out in nine of the first 16 holes, but his 6-foot birdie at the par-3 17th kept his side alive. He then drove it into the hay right and missed the green, while Rose delivered the knockout punch from 9 feet.
“Rome ’23. Sun is going down Friday afternoon the 18th hole, and that one was for Tommy that time, not the rest of the team,” Rose said. “He carried me today.”
Added Fleetwood: “I wanted to do that for a very, very long time, play with Justin in a Ryder Cup.”
Rose moved to 15-9-3 for his Ryder Cup career while Fleetwood is now 9-3-2. DeChambeau drops to 2-5-1.
“0-2 today, pretty disappointed,” DeChambeau said. “I played good golf, just not good enough, and they made everything. Luck is on their side right now.”
Cameron Young/Justin Thomas (U.S.) def. Ludvig Åberg/Rasmus Hojgaard, 6 and 5
If there was a bright spot Friday afternoon, it was Thomas overcoming being the worst statistical player in foursomes to earn a big point alongside Young, who sat the morning session.
After Thomas traded birdies with Hojgaard at No. 1, Young put the Americans ahead with a 21-foot birdie make at the par-4 second. Thomas stuck his approach to 6 feet at the par-4 fifth and rolled in the putt for a 2-up lead. And after Young made a 6-foot birdie of his own, at No. 9, Thomas canned a birdie from 7 feet at the par-4 12th to push his side to 4 up.
Young polished things off by flushing a 3-wood 293 yards to 15 feet and cozying his eagle putt to gimme range. The Americans shot 8 under in 13 holes.
“I really just sat back and watched the show,” Thomas said of Young.
Åberg is now 3-3 in his Ryder Cup career, though all three of his wins have come in foursomes.
Sam Burns/Patrick Cantlay (U.S.) tie Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry
Burns birdied the opening hole to give the U.S. the early lead, but the PGA Tour’s top putter didn’t birdie again until the penultimate hole. McIlroy, meanwhile, ignited the European faithful with birdie makes at Nos. 6 and 7, from 12 feet and 25 feet, respectively, to move he and Lowry to 2 up.
Cantlay got on a run with birdies at Nos. 10, 12 and 13, his 12-foot conversion at the par-5 13th tying the match back up. McIlroy had 6 feet for birdie at No. 13, but his putt horseshoed out. But he whiffed from inside 4 feet for birdie at the par-3 14th, which kept the Americans from flipping this match back red.
At the par-4 16th, Cantlay drained a 17-foot birdie putt, only for McIlroy to, this time, match from 10 feet. McIlroy got in the hole first for birdie at No. 17, but Burns was the one to match and send this one to No. 18 all tied up. And that’s where it would end. After Cantlay missed the final green with a wedge in hand and Burns slid by a 12-footer for birdie, McIlroy stepped up and missed his 12-footer left.
“Obviously, Rory and I feel like we could have got a full point there, and you just have to sit back and look at the positives,” Lowry said. “Great day for Europe. Great start. Exactly what we wanted.”
