Golf Ryder Cup
Historic humiliation for the USA
As of: 12:20 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
The Norwegian Viktor Hovland played outstandingly on Friday morning
Those: AP/Gregorio Borgia
The hosts couldn’t have got off to a better start. Europe’s best golfers don’t give their American opponents a chance at the start of the Ryder Cup. The leadership and how it came about are steeped in history.
The European golfers have got off to a perfect start in the Ryder Cup and after the first four matches have the best chance of taking back the trophy. The Americans clearly defeated Europe 19-9 in their own country two years ago. That should hardly be possible anymore.
On the first morning in Rome, European captain Luke Donald’s players won all four foursome matches in a partly superior manner in a continental comparison with the USA. In this format, two players compete against each other, each taking turns hitting the ball as a team. Whoever needs fewer strokes gets one point.
First tee-off at 7.35 a.m.: The stands were already full to capacity early in the morning
Quelle: Getty Images/Octavio Passos
The 4-0 win after the first session has historic dimensions; Europe has never had such a good start to a Ryder Cup. The Americans last achieved this feat in 2016, winning 17:11. However, on Friday morning they were as far away from such a performance as Rome was from the then venue Hazeltine in Minnesota. What is also unique is that the Americans were never in the lead in any match at any time. The leaderboard always only showed European blue, never American red.
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Donald had put his three top players Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy in three different pairings and, among others, bet on the newcomers Sepp Straka from Austria and the 23-year-old Swede Ludvig Aberg. This mixture of experience and inexperience worked.
US stars postpone putts in series
On the one hand, because the Europeans played like they were from another planet at times – Hovland chipped the ball in for birdie on the first hole, and Rahm almost managed a hole in one a little later. On the other hand, because a number of Americans around world number one Scottie Scheffler were completely off track. The US stars hit the balls in rows into the water or deep rough and postponed short putts that they would otherwise hole with one hand.
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Once again it became clear that the excitement of the Ryder Cup is different from that of a normal golfer. The 14th hole was emblematic of this when the Americans Patrick Cantlay and Colin Morikawa literally threw away the potential hole win with a three-putt from a few meters.
The Americans are going astray: Here Patrick Cantlay is looking at his ball
What: REUTERS
In general, the matches were not only one-sided amidst the jeering chants and sometimes incredulous looks of the European fans, but were also decided early on; none made it to the 18th and final hole of the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club east of the Eternal City. Rahm and Hatton shook hands with their opponents Scheffler and Burns on the 15th green. Just minutes later, the game between the Scandinavians Hovland and Aberg ended here. In total, the Europeans won 22 holes in this session, the Americans only won ten.
In the afternoon we continued with four more four-a-side games, this time in the Fourball format. Here both players on a team play their own ball until it falls into the hole. The better result will be counted. If it is also better than your opponent’s, you get a point.
America’s captain Zach Johnson responded to this humiliation and brought in all four players from his team of 12 who had sat out the morning. They now had to ensure that the dream of the first US away win since 1993 was not dashed extremely quickly. Both Europeans also used all the players who were still reserves in the morning in the afternoon.
The results from the morning
Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton – Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns 4&3 (Four points ahead, three holes left to play) Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg – Max Homa/Brian Harmann 4&3 Shane Lowry/Sepp Straka – Ricky Fowler/Colin Morikawa 2&1 Rory McIlroy/ Tommy Fleetwood – Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele 2&1
The pairings in the afternoon
Viktor Hovland/Tyrrell Hatton – Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth Jon Rahm/Nicolai Hojgaard – Scottie Scheffler/Brooks Koepka Robert MacIntyre/Justin Rose – Max Homa/Wyndham Clark Rory McIlroy/Matt Fitzpatrick – Xander Schauffele/Colin Morikawa
