COURTESY OF CBSSPORTS.COM
A relatively quiet morning filled with European flags set the stage for fireworks in the afternoon session of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. After falling down 4-0, the United States battled back and looked poised to trim its disadvantage in a significant manner. Instead, a late charge from Europe’s top players staved off the visiting team.
The Europeans erased American leads in three four-ball matches to end Day 1 at the Ryder Cup with a dominant 6.5 to 1.5 lead .
The five-point advantage ties the largest lead for either side after Day 1 in Ryder Cup history. Friday also marks the first time the United States has completed the first day without winning a match; the Americans’ 1.5 points are from three ties in four-ball matches they previously led.
Europe also became just the second team in Ryder Cup history to start the event 5 to 0, joining the 1947 United States side. It did so by leaning heavily on its stars — and they delivered when the lights were the brightest.
Rory McIlroy & Matt Fitzpatrick made mincemeat of Xander Schauffele & Collin Morikawa in the anchor four-ball match, while Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm — playing separately — simply ripped out the hearts of the Americans time and again across both Day 1 sessions.
The U.S. eyed a 3 to 1 four-ball session victory with American flags flying in the first two matches only for Hovland and Rahm to summon clutch short games that stamped out the flame. It began with a chip-in eagle courtesy of the Spaniard on the par-4 16th — his fourth hole-out from off the green between his two matches.
This squared Rahm & Nicolai Hojgaard, who signed for seven birdies of his own in his Ryder Cup debut, with Brooks Koepka & Scottie Scheffler. A key birdie conversion from Scheffler on the 17th gave U.S. a chance for a massive full point in the second match as the Americans went to the 18th with a 1 UP edge.
They were stuck in the fairway as Hovland and Justin Thomas faced birdie bids on the green below. As he has all summer long, the fist-pumping Norwegian delivered a mighty blow from just outside 25 feet. Thomas followed and calmly rolled his putt in to secure the first half point for the U.S., but it could have been much more as Thomas & Jordan Spieth held a 2 UP lead with five holes to play before the Texan’s swing unraveled.
Justin Rose added insult to injury late overcoming a two-hole deficit with two holes to play. Rose & Robert MacIntyre ultimately pulled even with Max Homa & Wyndham Clark. With his birdie on the last, Rose made sure the U.S. went without a victory across the first eight matches.
“You got 28 points, eight are done, so we got 20 more points,” said U.S. captain Zach Johnson. “Really, we’ve just kind of started the second quarter, or you could argue you’re on your fourth, fifth hole. A lot of golf left. A lot of opportunity left. And I’m confident in that because these guys are for each other, they’re for the common goal, which is to go out there and show off, do it with class, do it with character and obviously nothing but that.”
Fending off an American barrage, Europe scratched out a win in the afternoon four-ball session. There is plenty of golf to be played, but Friday four-ball felt like the Americans’ best punch. The Europeans dodged it with grace and are now in line to extend their 30-year home winning streak.