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.”
Rahm/Straka dominate as Scheffler’s struggles continue
A nightmare continues for the Americans as Scottie Scheffler is now 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.
Straka tied the match by chipping in for birdie at the second, and Rahm did most of the heavy lifting from there. The Spaniard holed three crucial birdie putts between 9 and 17 feet to build a 3-up advantage through 11 holes.
Meanwhile, Scheffler didn’t make anything longer than 22 inches until the 15th hole – going 18 straight holes without holing a meaningful putt. Even when he finally drained a 23-footer for birdie at 15, Rahm canceled him out with a 20-foot make to tie the hole.
Straka, despite not having his best game early, delivered when it mattered. His 30-foot birdie bomb at 14 was the shot of the match, though Spaun matched it with a 9-footer. Straka ended things with a confident 6-foot birdie at 16, matching Scheffler’s birdie from similar distance.
“To have Jon today was great because I did not have my game, 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 victory moved Rahm to 2-0 this week and 8-3-3 for his Ryder Cup career. He hasn’t lost in team play since 2018.
Scheffler is now 1-4-2 in team play, and 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.”
Fleetwood/Rose edge DeChambeau/Griffin in thriller
DeChambeau hammered another drive just short of the green to set up birdie at the first, but Fleetwood matched, and no side would take the lead until DeChambeau made a 13-footer for birdie at the fifth.
Griffin thought he’d doubled the lead when he canned a 53-foot birdie at the 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 11 before adding birdies at 14 (7 feet) and 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. His 6-foot birdie at the 17th kept his side alive, but after driving into the hay right and missing the green at 18, 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 this 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 improved 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.”
Young/Thomas deliver lone bright spot for U.S.
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 the first, Young put the Americans ahead with a 21-foot birdie at the second. Thomas stuck his approach to 6 feet at the fifth and rolled in the putt for a 2-up lead. Young made a 6-foot birdie at the ninth, and Thomas canned a birdie from 7 feet at the 12th to push their lead 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 in their dominant 6 and 5 victory.
“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.
McIlroy/Lowry battle to crucial half point
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 17th hole. McIlroy, meanwhile, ignited the European faithful with birdie makes at 6 and 7, from 12 feet and 25 feet, respectively, to move he and Lowry to 2 up.
Cantlay got on a roll with birdies at 10, 12 and 13, his 12-foot conversion at the par-5 13th tying the match. McIlroy had 6 feet for birdie there, but his putt horseshoed out. He then missed from inside 4 feet for birdie at the 14th, which kept the Americans from flipping this match back to red.
At the 16th, Cantlay drained a 17-foot birdie putt, only for McIlroy to match from 10 feet. McIlroy got in the hole first for birdie at 17, but Burns matched to send this one to 18 all tied up. 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.”
