FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — The opening day of the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black sure seemed like the one in Rome two years ago.
The Europeans blitzed the Americans in the first two sessions at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in 2023, and they did it again Friday in grabbing a 5.5-2.5 lead.
Riding the hot hands of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, the Europeans are in position to capture the Ryder Cup for the 11th time in the past 15 matches — and they’ll be looking to end the home team’s five-match winning streak as well.
The Europeans haven’t won on U.S. soil since their 14.5-13.5 victory at Medinah Country Club in Illinois in 2012.
They need to take only 8.5 of the final 20 points available over the next two days to do it again.
What stood out on Day 1?
Paolo Uggetti: Beyond the fact that the best players on the American side struggled, the expected home-crowd advantage that Bethpage Black was supposed to give the U.S. was not quite as impactful as expected.
Though most of the first-tee grandstand was packed as early as 5:30 a.m. and the energy for Bryson DeChambeau‘s opening shot was present, it took until the afternoon for the crowd to show its teeth. By then, the Europeans were up 3-1 and riding the momentum, and they were able to transition from quiet confidence into a kind of fire of their own every time they made a crucial putt in front of them.
“It gets louder as it goes,” Europe captain Luke Donald said. “You cross the road, and there’s a lot of grandstands. There’s a lot of hospitality. In the afternoon, maybe guys have had a couple more beverages. You know, it gets loud, and the guys handled it with absolute class and poise.”
No one did that more than McIlroy, who made several long putts in his afternoon four-ball match against Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns, yelling out “Come on! Let’s f—ing go!” multiple times.
It seems that McIlroy and the Europeans were able to not just mostly ignore the crowd’s aggression but also to match it when needed. According to Donald, that was part of the plan — to let the noise bounce off and not react when they were taunted, but also to use that as motivation to perform.
“It was really incredible to see the Europeans come into a hostile environment and go out there and perform the way they did,” Keegan Bradley said.
With the U.S. down by three points heading into Saturday, it will be interesting to see what kind of crowd we get on Day 2. If Europe once again dominates foursomes, the afternoon could be too late to turn around the momentum in favor of the U.S.
What needs to happen for U.S. to get back into it?
Mark Schlabach: The U.S. stars have to play like stars, especially three-time major championship winner Scottie Scheffler. He hasn’t won in his past six Ryder Cup matches, going back to the Americans’ 16.5-11.5 defeat in Italy two years ago. On Friday, he became the first world No. 1 golfer to lose both matches on the opening day with neither one getting to the 17th hole.
For whatever reason, Scheffler, who won 13 times on the PGA Tour the past two seasons, hasn’t yet figured out how to do it in the Ryder Cup. He’s only the third world No. 1 golfer to lose twice on the opening day — Tiger Woods (1999 and 2002) and Ian Woosnam (1991) were the others.
Scheffler and Russell Henley lost 5 and 3 to Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick in a foursomes match Friday morning. Scheffler trailed by at least four holes in each of his three career Ryder Cup foursome matches.
Scheffler and U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun put up a fight at the end of their 3-and-2 loss to Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka in a four-ball match, but it was too little, too late.
Scheffler’s putter abandoned him until late in his four-ball match. He didn’t seem to have much confidence reading the putts, and a few of them weren’t close to going in the hole. He didn’t make a birdie in the four-ball match until the par-5 13th hole and added two more on Nos. 15 and 16, so maybe he’ll turn things around.
Scheffler has bounced back after below-average putting performances in the past, and he’ll have to do it again Saturday.
“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities. It really just came down to me not holing enough putts,” Scheffler said. “We put up a good fight at the end. The guys just really turned it on on the back nine, but it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to, but overall it was a good fight at the end, and we’ll come back out tomorrow.”
Saturday morning foursomes matches and tee times
7:10: Bryson DeChambeau-Cameron Young vs. Matt Fitzpatrick-Ludvig Åberg
7:26: Harris English–Collin Morikawa vs. Rory McIlroy-Tommy Fleetwood
7:42: Xander Schauffele-Patrick Cantlay vs. Jon Rahm-Tyrrell Hatton
7:58: Russell Henley-Scottie Scheffler vs. Robert MacIntyre–Viktor Hovland
What can we expect in Saturday’s foursomes?
Schlabach: More of the same? The Europeans are rolling out the same four teams, and the only change the Americans made to their lineup was substituting New York native Cameron Young for Justin Thomas.
Young was terrific in his first Ryder Cup match Friday, picking up five birdies in he and Thomas’ 6-and-5 victory over Åberg and Rasmus Højgaard. If I were Bradley, I probably would have rolled with JT and Young again Saturday.
Young and DeChambeau both hit the ball a mile off the tee, and there’s a chance they’ll provide a spark that DeChambeau and JT didn’t Friday.
“We just thought this was an option for us before the week started,” Bradley said. “We really like this pairing. Their golf balls are very similar. We feel like they are going to match up really well together.”
I’m surprised Bradley decided to go with Harris English and Collin Morikawa again. They’re going to face Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood in the second match, and the “Fleetwood Mac” pairing has been beating just about everyone in the Ryder Cup.
“We have a plan of what we’re going to do,” Bradley said. “They beat us today, but you know, we’re really comfortable with our plan. We’re really comfortable with those two players. Excited [about] who they are playing tomorrow.
“[It’s going to] be an exciting match, and we’re sticking to our plan. We’re not going to panic. We’re not going to panic and make those sorts of mistakes. We’re going to stick to what we know. We have a lot of confidence in them.”
Thomas struggled Friday morning, but he bounced back and played well. He’s sitting out Saturday’s first session, along with Ben Griffin, Sam Burns and J.J. Spaun.
It seemed like a no-brainer for European captain Luke Donald to roll out the same lineup, which won three of four foursomes matches Friday. Give him credit for pairing Åberg with England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who had a 1-7-0 record prior to this year.
“They jelled very well,” Donald said. “You never know when you’re trying new partnerships under intense pressure, but they seemed very relaxed. Their personalities really jelled, and their games were fantastic.
“Fitzy especially played some scintillating golf. He looked very comfortable out there. He look very confident. Just great to see because, you know, there’s been some media about his Ryder Cup record.”
Player to watch Saturday
Uggetti: If there was a silver lining for the U.S. team beyond the usual consistent play from Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, it was the fact that Ryder Cup rookie Cameron Young looked like he was made for this event.
Young was stellar in his debut, pairing up with Thomas to record the most dominant win of the event (6 and 5). Despite the fact that his demeanor never seems to change and seeing a fist pump from him is rare, Young looked comfortable, firing at flags and making a slew of birdies to push the U.S. to their only full point of the session.
Young’s play earned him a ticket to the first tee Saturday in foursomes, where he’ll be paired alongside DeChambeau in another blockbuster matchup against Fitzpatrick and Ludvig, who already took down Scheffler and Henley.
DeChambeau and Young should match up relatively well in alternate shot. Both bomb the ball, and Young’s putter has been particularly hot as of late. If Young can replicate some of the magic he produced with Thomas on Friday, the Americans will be well-served to get that first point of the day Saturday, Bradley might even have to ride Young out in the afternoon as well. So far, he has looked like their best player.
“He played awesome. He’s been playing great for a long time,” Bradley said. “We’re excited to have him in the lineup tomorrow.”
