Backed by a boisterous home crowd in Italy, the Europeans sweep the opening session for the first time and the Americans fail to win a match on the opening day
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — Europe had the stars, all the pivotal shots and a delirious home crowd pushing them to a record-tying lead Friday in the Ryder Cup, an opening day performance so dominant the Americans never won a match.
Rahm chipped from deep rough across the green for eagle on the par-4 16th and then holed a 35-foot eagle putt on the 597-yard 18th hole as he and Ryder Cup rookie Nicolai Hojgaard earned a halve against Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka. It was even bigger than the U.S. lead over Europe at Whistling Straits two years ago, when Europe had hardly any fans because of travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final blow came from 43-year-old Justin Rose, the oldest player in these matches. Rose made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th to earn another halve with Robert MacIntyre against Max Homa and Wyndham Clark. He felt his side statistically was stronger in foursomes and he wanted a fast start. McIlroy said Donald had Europe play three-hole matches in practice to develop a sense of urgency.“All week, all we’ve been talking about is getting off to fast starts … something Luke has drilled into us,” McIlroy said. “We were ready to go from the first tee shot, obviously, as you can see in how everyone played.
U.S. captain Zach Johnson also had a plan for the five sessions, only this beating was so thorough it brought to mind what heavyweight Mike Tyson once said of Evander Holyfield: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”It took six hours and 25 minutes after the Ryder Cup began for the Americans to lead in any match. That came on an 8-foot birdie putt in the afternoon by Thomas, and the lead lasted as long as it took Hovland to birdie the next hole.
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