Day One at the Ryder Cup ended up being a historic one, as team USA pulled out a morning sweep against team Europe. The Europeans would answer back in the afternoon, but here are some key takeaways from team USA’s play on Friday.
Day one of the Ryder Cup is in the books, and as usual, it didn’t disappoint. As the many names were getting introduced by the first tee announcer, the cheers echoed throughout the Hazeltine golf course.
Both the American and European roster features some interesting players and it was fun seeing the foursome and fourball pairings duking it out. In the morning, the scoreboard was a sea of red, as team USA dominated the morning matches.
In fact, it was a sweep, although the wins didn’t come easy for at least two of the matches. There was a great comeback by the pairing of Zach Johnson and Jimmy Walker against Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer.
After a slow start by Johnson and Walker, they caught fire at the right time and made the comeback. The key match that swung the session was the duel between Phil Mickelson/Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy/Andy Sullivan, where the European duo was up by two before the Americans hit some clutch putts to take the last few holes and win the match.
The sweep was then completed. It was only the fifth foursomes sweep in Ryder Cup history and the first time since 1981. Ironically, all of the other sweeps were also by the U.S. team.
Another piece of irony, was the fact that Arnold Palmer’s 1975 Ryder Cup bag was on the first tee in honor of the golf legend who just passed away. In that Ryder Cup, there was also a morning sweep. It was a chilling coincidence.
Despite the hot start by the Americans, it was all Europe in the afternoon fourball matches. The European squad won three of the four matches. However, Ryder Cup rookie Brooks Koepka and partner Brandt Snedeker played tremendous golf and thumped the talented duo of Martin Kaymer and Danny Willett.
With the flaming hot morning start for team USA and an amazing turnaround by team Europe in the afternoon, it looks to be a tightly contested tournament. So, we take a look at some of the things that stood out from the first day of play for the Americans.