Ryder Cup: 5 Key Takeaways From Europe’s Day 1 Play

Rookies Are Up To The Challenge

For as much had been made about Europe’s six rookies heading into this week’s event, the first-timers acquitted themselves quite well on Friday, even if their senior partners didn’t always make it easy to recognize that.

Belgian phenomenon Thomas Pieters was the only rookie to play in both sessions. Although he received little help from an out of sorts Lee Westwood, the 24-year-old showed flashes of the good play that would allow his birdies to secure four winning holes alongside Rory McIlroy in the afternoon.

As I alluded to earlier, Cabrera Bello’s play hardly resembled that of a rookie, as he excelled alongside Garcia. Outside of hitting a ball in the water in the closing embers of the match, Andy Sullivan demonstrated an impressive level of comfort in the morning session, holing a host of pivotal putts.

Danny Willett didn’t have the afternoon he was looking for after a controversial few days, but in truth he got very little help from Martin Kaymer in the fourballs, as the Englishman’s score was the one that counted for the pair for their first nine holes. From what he saw on Friday, Clarke should be willing to opt for Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Wood over some of his struggling veterans on Saturday.