GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Europe had the stars, all the pivotal shots and a delirious home crowd pushing them to a record-tying lead Friday in the Ryder Cup, an opening day performance so dominant the Americans never won a match.
It was a rude welcome and a harsh reminder to the Americans why it has been 30 years since they last won the Ryder Cup away from home. And if Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland keep this up, that drought is sure to continue.
Europe swept the opening session for the first time, winning all the foursomes matches before they even reached the 18th hole. Three of the fourballs matches in the afternoon that did reach the par-5 closing hole at Marco Simone all went in favor of European blue.
Rahm chipped from deep rough across the green for eagle on the par-4 16th and then holed a 35-foot eagle putt on the 597-yard 18th hole as he and Ryder Cup rookie Nicolai Hojgaard earned a halve against Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, undefeated in three previous Ryder Cup fourballs matches, were 1 up and looked to have a red point in hand until Hovland poured in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th that took one last turn before dropping.
When thousands of flag-waving fans headed for the exit, Europe had a 6 1/2-1 1/2 lead, matching the largest in Ryder Cup history. The last time it was a five-point margin after just eight matches was in 2004 at Oakland Hills, where Europe won easily.
It was even bigger than the U.S. lead over Europe at Whistling Straits two years ago, when Europe had hardly any fans because of travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A great day in front of some amazing home fans,” said McIlroy, the only player to win both his matches.
There were plenty of American fans at Marco Simone. They just didn’t make much noise because there was so little reason to cheer.
The final blow came from 43-year-old Justin Rose, the oldest player in these matches. Rose made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th to earn another halve with Robert MacIntyre against Max Homa and Wyndham Clark.
“I didn’t want us to be the only one to let red on the board,” Rose said, illustrating how ruthless Europe felt with a home crowd on its side.
European captain Luke Donald looked like a genius by leading off with foursomes, the more difficult format of alternate shot. Europe has started the Ryder Cup at home with fourballs every time since 1993, which also was the last time Europe lost at home.
He felt his side statistically was stronger in foursomes and he wanted a fast start. McIlroy said Donald had Europe play three-hole matches in practice to develop a sense of urgency.
Whatever the plan, it worked to near perfection.
“All week, all we’ve been talking about is getting off to fast starts … something Luke has drilled into us,” McIlroy said. “We were ready to go from the first tee shot, obviously, as you can see in how everyone played.”
