Europe’s Big Three deliver, Luke Donald makes the right calls among 5 things to know about Day One at the Ryder Cup
ROME – The City of Eternal Light may not have been built in one day, but the Ryder Cup in Rome may have been lost in one after Team Europe jumped out to a 6 ½ – 1 ½ lead over the Americans.
It equals the biggest day one lead in Ryder Cup history (1975 and 2004) and marked the first time in history that the United States have failed to win a single match in a Ryder Cup matchday.
It was a dominant performance by the Euros, who lead after the first session for the first time since 2006. In fact, it was a clean sweep and the U.S. didn’t hold a lead in any match until Justin Thomas made a birdie on the sixth hole in the first match of the afternoon session.
Here are four more things to know from Day One of the 44th Ryder Cup.
Europe’s Big 3 deliver
World Golf Hall of Fame member Lee Trevino claims that the key to winning a Ryder Cup is for your top three players to perform the way up to their ability.
Europe’s Luke Donald got a great showing from Jon Rahm (1-0-1), Rory McIlroy (2-0) and Viktor Hovland (1-0-1) on the first day of play.
“They are superstars. They are studs. They are three of the top four players in the world,” Donald said. “You need your superstars firing. You need them playing well. Without that, it’s really an uphill battle. They stepped up and did what they needed to do, and I’m so proud of them.”
Home-field edge
Bookies usually give a home team in football a three-point edge in the spread. In the Ryder Cup, home course may be worth three points, if not more. Six of the last seven matches have been won by the home team and after the hot start by the Euros it could soon be seven of eight.
“It was such a big difference compared to Whistling Straits,” Hovland said of playing a road match as a rookie in 2021 with limited fan support due to COVID-19. “Normally I keep my head down and just play, but I’m trying to really get the crowds going and just use them because they want you to play well and they want to support you. So it was such a good start, and we’re going to keep it going.”
When Donald was asked to explain why home course presented such a significant advantage, he said, “I can only assume it’s for two reasons. We obviously have a good say in the course setup. We look at statistics and try and fit the course that we think will give us an advantage.
“And the home support. To have that energy, that passion from the crowd is big. It can lift you.”
Fitzpatrick winless no more
Fitzpatrick put a full point on the board in the afternoon fourballs with Rory McIlroy, winning 5 and 3. In two previous Ryder Cup appearances in 2016 and 2021, he had a record of 0-5.
He had yet to play a fourball match in his previous two Cup appearances and it left a sour taste in his mouth.
“You build it up to be this amazing thing that you wanted to be part of thinking that you’ll get a real good go at it, and obviously I never did, really,” Fitzpatrick said. “So that’s obviously always something that’s sort of disappointing.”
Donald said he wanted to make sure that changed.
On Friday, Fitzpatrick putted out of his mind.
“Six one-putts in a row is normally a big help,” Fitzpatrick said.
“What are you going to do?” Morikawa said. “They were I think 9-under through 10.”
“He is a one-man wrecking crew,” NBC’s Paul Azinger said. “He is the most purposeful golfer in the world.”
Donald makes the right call
European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald did a strange thing by leading off with foursomes, in the opinion of many pundits, including Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.
It’s the first time since 1993 that the European team has chosen to open the Ryder Cup with foursomes rather than fourball.
“It’s pretty simple really, we feel like as a team, statistically, we are stronger in foursomes within our team than we would be in fourballs,” Donald explained of the decision. “Why not get off to a fast start? That’s it.”
Chamblee, speaking on Golf Channel’s “Live From,” called it “a mistake.”
“It is very important to win the first session from a momentum standpoint. But it’s significantly more important to lead after the first day. If you go back to 1997 to present, starting with fourballs allowed them to end with a strength on the first day, and mostly they’ve dominated in the foursomes,” Chamblee argued. “If you win the first session, you win the Ryder Cup about 60 percent of the time. But if you win the first day, you win 70 percent of the time. So in one fell swoop, he’s potentially thrown away a 10 percent chance, which is a monumental advantage given to the European side, and I think that’s a mistake.”
For all their success in the Cup, the Euros haven’t led after an opening session since 2006. But in the last four Cups at home, the Euros have bested the Americans in the foursomes format by a score of 22 ½ -9 ½.
The Euros swept all four matches for the first time in Ryder Cup history. It sure appears that Donald’s bet paid off in a big way.
How to watch Day 2 action on Saturday
If you’re on the West Coast, you can start watching Day 2 action at 10:30 p.m. ET. That’s going to be 1:30 a.m. ET for you East Coasters. Check out the full TV and streaming viewin guide.
