Europe’s leading golfers were captivating fans on the first day of the 45 th Ryder Cup. They stormed out to an early lead, putting the United States in a 5 ½ – 2 ½ hole. Despite the narrowest of odds, the European side dominated from start to finish led by superstars Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm. Their unbeaten run in the first two sessions of play stood testament to their grit.
The competition opened in exciting fashion with several of these heated matches going down to the wire. Cameron Young was the one to beat in the afternoon session. He captured the American squad’s final and most decisive victory, 6-and-5 in his fourball match to seal the deal. Young’s performance was an especially historic one. He became the first American to win his first Ryder Cup match by six holes or more since Phil Mickelson in 1995.
Young’s victory, the European team continued to carry the shot into day with four straight points. Fleetwood, McIlroy, and Rahm formed an awesome trio and all helped lead the Europeans to victory with each of them earning no losses in their matches. Jon Rahm’s red-hot right now! He’s pushed his incredible unbeaten run to nine matches in singles play, matching for the second-longest run of a European player in Ryder Cup history.
Europe’s rejuvenated captain, Luke Donald, had faith in his players’ abilities to hold serve. He emphasized the need for a good start, particularly with the U.S. Team who are traditionally strong in four-somes.
“To win this morning was huge for us, and we all know how important it is to get off to a good start,” – Luke Donald
… And as the games wore on, it started to become clear that the Europeans were making their chances count. They hit the key pressure putts that in return powers them to wins on the back of their match. Meanwhile, on the American side of the ledger, it was a struggle on the greens. Scottie Scheffler, one of three players winning their first match for the losing team, said his team didn’t perform well and were rightfully beaten.
“It really just came down to me not holing enough putts. We put up a good fight at the end…it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to,” – Scottie Scheffler
As we head into Day Two, the scoreboard certainly looks like Europe is sitting pretty. All they require is 14 points to retain possession of the Ryder Cup! On the other side, the Americans must win at least 14 ½ points to take back the historic trophy. Europe has never lost in the last six Ryder Cups whenever they are ahead after day one. This somewhat arbitrary historical trend adds further pressure to the U.S.
In a second match, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry halved their match with Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns. While this result boosted Europe’s overall lead, it provided an indication of how closely contested the day’s play would be.
This from Keegan Bradley of the US team on the conditions that flummoxed the Americans. He was hopeful to see further improvement in the remaining rounds.
“The boys played really good this afternoon… Happy with the way we’re playing. Hopefully, it’ll turn and our putts will go in tomorrow,” – Keegan Bradley
As Day Two gets closer, the two teams will follow the same routine. They will start with 4ball matches in the morning and finish with 12 singles matches on Sunday. The excitement is palpable as everyone looks ahead to what should be a great sequel to this classic rivalry.
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