After the first round of Ryder Cup matches, the Americans were off to a flying start. But by the time the day ended, there was no doubt that Europe had the advantage.
Europe took a 5-3 lead after the first day of Ryder Cup play, sweeping the afternoon foursomes matches 4-0 to overcome a slow start in the morning four-ball play.
Europe Bounces Back to Dominate Afternoon Play
The Europeans salvaged only a single match in the morning, as Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood managed to make five birdies in the final seven holes to beat Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed 3 & 1. The other three matches went to the United States, giving the Americans a quick 3-1 lead in the event.
That advantage quickly evaporated once the format switches to foursomes, a format where teams alternate between their two players on each shot. The Americans were in trouble early in three of the four matches, with only Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson managing to go two holes up in the early going over Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy.
But even that lead wouldn’t last, as Poulter and McIlroy would win four consecutive holes to close out the front nine. Ultimately, all four European pairs would win, with none of them even having to play the final two holes in order to secure victory.
“It was a bit of a roller coaster ride,” European captain Thomas Bjorn said at the end of the day. “We know it’s a marathon, and we’re delighted with the way the day turned out because it was a fairly tough morning. We go home happy tonight, but we refocus and look forward to tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, US Captain Jim Furyk told reporters that he could see the body language changing on his team as everything went wrong in the afternoon. Still, he said, there’s no reason for his squad to panic so early in the competition.
“It was four points out of 28 that we played for,” Furyk said. “We are not happy with it. I think we use it as motivation tomorrow.”
No Saturday Morning Changes for Furyk
For Saturday morning, Furyk is running out the same lineup that was so successful in the early play on Friday. That includes the Woods/Reed pairing, despite the fact that Tiger struggled in that match. Ryder Cup struggles are nothing new to Woods: with a career record of 13-18-3, the competition is one of the few places in the golfing world where he hasn’t been dominant throughout his career.
“My game is fine,” Woods said after his match. “I was hammering it. The ball was going far. It was going straight, but it was not cutting. I can accept that. That’s really no big deal. My putting feels solid. I’ll be ready come tomorrow whenever Captain puts me out.”
The early results have made Europe the favorite to lift the trophy at the end of this year’s Ryder Cup. William Hill now lists the Europeans as the 8/13 pick to win the event, while the USA can be backed at 13/10.
There will be eight more matches on Saturday, each of which will be contested by teams of two. On Sunday, all 12 players on each team will take part in singles matches. The first team to 14.5 points wins the Ryder Cup; in the case of a 14-14 tie, the USA would retain the trophy as the defending champion.
