Team Europe's big guns capitalise on USA disaster on Ryder Cup opening day
When Matt Fitzpatrick rolled in a 14-foot eagle putt on the fifth hole, his playing partner could only laugh and break into a thunderclap.
His playing partner was Rory McIlroy, the ace in the European team happy to cheerlead for a moment. It was that sort of surreal, sunny, sensational day. A day when Fitzpatrick - played five, lost five in past Ryder Cup appearances - covered his first six holes in six under par.
A day when it took Team USA six hours and 26 minutes to get ahead in ANY match … and ended up winning none of them. A day of cheering, jeering, needle and niceties. And, most significantly of all, a day when Europe’s big guns stepped up to the plate.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy in action in Rome
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He promised to make up for his nightmare at Whistling Straits two years ago and delivered.
He did not have his A-game - probably not even close - but when he needed to produce, he produced, stiffing his tee shot on the 17th to set up a win with Tommy Fleetwood over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in the morning foursomes, and closing out his and Fitzpatrick’s afternoon proceedings against Schauffele and Collin Morikawa with a birdie on the 15th.
Jon Rahm .
Jon Rahm impressed on day one (Greig Cowie/REX/Shutterstock)It seemed as though every time you saw him, he was chipping in, setting the Friday tone in a rumbustious, sweary partnership with Tyrrell Hatton by blitzing world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.
And his day one parting shot? A slam-dunk of an eagle putt that looked as though it was on its way to the Colosseum before hitting the back of the hole, leaping skywards and dropping to earn a tie with Nicolai Hojgaard against Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
That was two eagles in the last three holes for Rahm. Remarkable.
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland sent the crowd wild with a spectacular chip-in to set the Ryder Cup alight. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
With an all-day smile as wide as the Tiber, Hovland holed a fiendishly difficult chip on the first as he and Ludvig Aberg took care of Max Homa and Brian Harman and, in the afternoon, he drained a 26-footer on that lucky European last to rescue a half with Hatton against the crack American pairing of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
And there you have it - Team Europe’s aces aced it, Team USA’s top guns misfired. Of course, it was not just the A-listers who gave Europe this sensational start to the 44th Ryder Cup - how about Justin Rose’s up-and-down to get another half in the last game of the day?
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But the men who captain Luke Donald wanted to lead his army from the front set a swaggering example. From the moment Hovland’s brilliance won the second European hole to those two Rahm eagles that served as some sort of glorious encore, the crowd was in a permanent state of semi-delirium.
Some overstepped the mark at times but don’t believe home support - and home hostility towards the visitors - does not play a major part in the outcome of a Ryder Cup. History tells you it does and this remarkable first day at the Marco Simone club told you it does.
But to inspire your supporters, to inspire your team-mates across the course and in the locker-room, you need the main men to walk tall into the fight. And on a remarkable opening day, Europe’s main men did just that.
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