FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK | In days to come, perhaps even by nightfall today, the events on the first tee soon after 7 a.m. on the opening morning of the 45th Ryder Cup can be put into perspective. In the first foursomes match Bryson DeChambeau, an American hero, nearly drove the green of the dogleg, 397-yard first hole, sending his tee shot high over the trees that stand in the hole’s elbow. “My God, he’s nuked it,” an awestruck spectator said as DeChambeau’s ball soared into the grey sky.
Then he sank a 5-foot putt for a birdie and put him and Thomas 1 up against Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton in the opening match. Advantage USA.
Half an hour later it was Rory McIlroy’s turn to take to the first tee. The spectators had been disappointingly quiet, tepid even, to this point. Endless chants of USA, USA interspersed with some vulgar alterations aimed at McIlroy don’t match the excitement and inventiveness of previous Ryder Cups. There was virtually no singing, little flag waving, not much chanting. All of which have been a feature at previous Ryder and Solheim cups. In a city so good it named itself twice, we had been expecting something of an operatic onslaught from patriotic New Yorkers. We didn’t get it.
There were the anticipated boos for McIlroy, which he appeared to shrug off as if they were music hall jibes, before, like DeChambeau before him, he launched a huge drive at the green. A deft chip from rough by his partner, Tommy Fleetwood, left McIlroy 5 feet for a birdie and he duly holed it. Result: McIlroy and Fleetwood 1 up against Collin Morikawa and Harris English. Advantage Europe.
At that stage the Ryder Cup looked evenly poised as it had in prospect the night before but then the U.S. started to feel the force of the Europeans. By the time the four foursomes had reached the turn, Europe clearly had wrenched hold of the initiative and led in the first three.
DeChambeau and Thomas were 1 up for the first six holes but had fallen to 1 down to Rahm and Hatton by the 10th as the Europeans started to turn the screw and eventually went on to win, 4 and 3. Their three birdies from the 12th to the 14th were body blows to their opponents. Rahm and Hatton, both with bushy beards, are good friends who played as if they still hadn’t come down from their memorable drinking session together a few weeks ago.
After nine holes in the second match Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick, untried as a foursomes partnership, had raced into a four-hole lead against Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley and would go on to win, 5 and 3. McIlroy and Fleetwood led Morikawa and English by the same four-hole margin (having been 5 up a hole earlier) and would soon close out a 5-and-4 victory.
Only Schauffele and Cantlay, such a tried and trusted pairing in foursomes in Ryder and Presidents cups, had a chance to stop a Europe clean sweep as had happened in Rome two years ago. They sped into a three-hole lead against Viktor Hovland and the left-hander Bob MacIntyre but then after 11 holes had to withstand a spirited fightback from the Europeans. Under the anxious eye of Keegan Bradley, their captain, who was never far from the side of his players as this match moved tensely to its conclusion, they won the 17th to go 1 up and captured the 18th, the only match that went beyond the 15th green.
As Europe moved into a 3-1 lead, the statistics were revealing. It was the first time Europe had won the first three matches in an away Ryder Cup. It was the third time since 1973 that Europe had won at least three points in the opening session.
What was clear at lunchtime was that of the 24 men in the two teams, four of them have more important roles in their teams than the other 20. DeChambeau and Rahm are respectively the heartbeats of their teams, human howitzers and overtly emotional. If DeChambeau has the letters USA on his heart, Rahm has those of Spain on his.
The third man is Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1, the U.S. team’s best player and its quietly spoken and dignified leader. McIlroy is the fourth man in this quartet. He is Europe’s team leader, chirper in chief, and best player and a man who believes winning this Ryder Cup would be an appropriate capstone to his memorable year. How these four perform will go a long way towards determining the winners of the 45th Ryder Cup.
For his part DeChambeau would get some credit for the energetic start he gave to his team with that enormous drive on the first hole and the excitement that shot generated.
The report card after the first day’s foursomes would give an emphatic tick to Rahm and McIlroy for their performances. They looked and played like the highly experienced Ryder Cup players they are. Luke Donald, the Europe captain, could not have been more pleased with the heartbeat of his team and the leader of it. “They thrived in difficult situations,” Donald said. “They knew what our plan was. It was nice to see them sticking to it.”
For his part DeChambeau would get some credit for the energetic start he gave to his team with that enormous drive on the first hole and the excitement that shot generated.
But the report card would wonder what it is about foursomes that Scheffler doesn’t seem to like. It is true that he and Henley ran into a strong pair in Fitzpatrick and Åberg. But there were too many occasions when Scheffler didn’t look like the world No. 1, the man who is so dominant in stroke-play events. If he can’t regain some of his stroke-play form and remind us that he is the best player in the world, then life at the Bethpage Black golf course over the coming days will be very difficult for Team USA.
“This is not exactly what I wanted,” Bradley said. “But there are many ebbs and flows in this match. The president [of the United States] is coming here on Air Force One. I have a feeling he will make things turn.”