The craziest, most wondrous, of Ryder Cup opening days ended as it started with a communal European roar that resounded around Marco Simone Golf Club. Justin Rose was the instigator of the late madness, as the Englishman rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th green to ensure an unbeaten fourballs session to follow the whitewash of foursomes that gave Europe a 6½ to 1½ lead over the United States after the first of three days of play in this 44th edition of the Ryder Cup.
Never before had Europe won all four matches in the opening session; and, if there was an air of incredulity around the hills over Rome about Europe doing to the Americans what the Americans had done to Europe in Whistling Straits two years ago, there was also a sense of a new generation of players assuming the mantle of leaders and delivering on the stage that mattered most.
Europe’s 4-0 cleansweep of the morning foursomes was followed by a 2½ to 1½ win in the afternoon fourballs, which saw all of the American points total come from three halved matches. Where the wins had come hard and fast in the foursomes, Luke Donald’s team had to show resilience and fortitude in fighting hard for every point and half-point in the fourballs.
If Donald had needed any note of caution to his team after the foursomes whitewash, he didn’t have to delve back too far. Only last week in the Solheim Cup, it was Europe who suffered a loss in all four opening session matches to the USA’s women, only to mount a comeback that ultimately saw them retain the trophy.
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The importance of keeping the foot on the pedal was stressed to players in the brief lunchtime meeting that took place between the end of the foursomes and the start of the fourballs.
In those foursomes, Europe had dominated: Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton beat Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 4 and 3; Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg defeated Max Homa and Brian Harman 4 and 3; Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka beat Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa 2 and 1; and Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood beat Xander Schauffele 2 and 1, where McIlroy hit a superb tee-shot on the 17th to four feet to close the deal.
The 4-0 lead meant that Donald could stick to Plan A, which was to get every player playing on day one. So it was that Lowry, Straka, Fleetwood and Aberg were rested from the fourballs and Nicolai Hojgaard, Bob MacIntyre, Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick brought in for the fourballs.
The fourballs proved to be far more competitive, with three of the four matches going to the 18th hole before the outcomes – all of which ended in halves – were decided. And in two of those three fourballs, Europe salvaged halved points: Rahm eagled the 18th to win the hole and claim a halved point with Hojogaard against Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, while Rose birdied the hole for MacIntyre and himself to share a point with Max Homa and Wyndham Clark.
McIlroy was the only player to claim two points from his two matches, partnering Fitzpatrick to a 5 and 3 win over Schauffele and Morikawa. For much of that match, it was Fitzpatrick – previously without a point from his previous Ryder Cup appearances in 2018 and 2021 – who stood out with a run of birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the second to the sixth holes that saw them take control.
“For the first nine holes, I was trying to hang on to [Matt’s] coattails. I said to him walking up 10, ‘at least I contributed twice’,” said McIlroy who then put in strong resistance when faced by a short-lived comeback from the Americans who reduced the deficit from six to hour holes before he finished matters with a birdie three on the 15th.
It was a poor opening day for the United States team, such comprehensive winners in Whistling Straits in 2021 and now facing a battle to retain the trophy. There was evidence of rustiness in a number of the American players, many of them with only limited playing schedules since the PGA Tour ended in August while the European players continued playing tournaments up to the BMW PGA just a fortnight ago.
Koepka, the only LIV player in the USA team, responded of the challenge facing them after the first day’s disappointment: “We’re all grown-ups. We act like grown-ups. We’ve just got to play and see where it puts [us].”
Koepka and Scheffler had birdied each of their last five holes, still only managing to gain a halved match with Rahm proving their nemesis with eagles on two of the last three holes. “We’ll just keep fighting. The lads on this team know what they’re doing. We’ve a lot of talented guys and we’re looking to bounce back and put up a good fight,” said Scheffler, the world number one.
The task the USA face is a difficult one, but not impossible. Still, Europe are the team moving into the weekend with all the momentum. One with a mountain to climb, the other intent on retaining the high ground.
