29 September 2023 , 13:44
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Paddy Power have ran the risk of being left red-faced after paying out on Europe to win the Ryder Cup after just one session of play at Marco Simone.
The Europeans blew away their American opponents in Friday morning's foursomes, winning all four matches to take an early 4-0 lead. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton kicked things off, after comfortably seeing off Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 4&3 in match one.
They were then followed by Victor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, who managed to defeat Max Homa and Brian Harman by the same scoreline to take an early 2-0 advantage.
Two points soon became three, as Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry secured a 2&1 win over Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa, before Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy completed the clean sweep against Xander Schuaffele and Patrick Cantlay with a hole to spare.
It was exactly the start that the Europeans needed, as they look to bounce back from a record-breaking defeat to the US two years ago in Wisconsin.
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And Paddy Power believe Luke Donald's team have already done enough, after paying out bets backing the home team to reclaim the Ryder Cup. In a statement, Paddy Power spokesperson Rachael Kane said: "If you’re wondering why spectators are chanting "Olé, Olé, Olé" with such gusto in Rome, here’s your answer.
"We’ve hit the big blue button on all bets placed on Europe to win the Ryder Cup outright. The last time we did something of this scale, it involved paying out on Hilary Clinton as the next US President and it bit us in the bunker. Here’s hoping Zach Johnson’s US team don’t come up Trump’s before the weekend is out."
It was an astonishing morning for Team Europe (PA)It was a morning to forget for captain Zach Johnson, as the American team lost the opening session of a Ryder Cup for the first time since 2006. European skipper Luke Donald meanwhile will have been left over the moon with his team's remarkable morning showing.
The Englishman - and Paddy Power - will now be hoping Team Europe can continue to add to their lead in the afternoon fourballs. He told Sky Sports: "It's obviously the perfect start for us. I'm so happy with how the guys came out of the gate and got us into leads early on, which is so paramount in matchplay.
"It's an amazing start, but we know the US will be hungry to come back for me, so we must keep that foot firmly on the pedal."