Ryder Cup: Key Takeaways from Europe’s Day 2 Play
McIlroy and Pieters bomb their way to a 3-0 record
Friday saw Rory McIlroy depart the course with bows to the crowd after a match-ending eagle putt on No. 15. Those theatrics were only the beginning, as the power couple of McIlroy and Ryder Cup rookie Thomas Pieters kept rolling on Saturday.
The duo has yet to play the 18th hole this week, winning in relatively pain-free fashion thrice to account for nearly half of the team’s 6.5 points.
Facing the tandem of Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson, which rallied to defeat McIlroy and Andy Sullivan on Friday morning, the fireworks began early on in the match with a lengthy birdie putt from Fowler on No. 1. The Americans were off to a quick start, but Pieters soon restored order.
Taking a page out Patrick Reed’s playbook from Gleneagles in 2014, he followed up a clutch birdie putt from just off the green to halve the hole with a “shhh” finger motion. The large American contingent behind the ropes did not oblige Pieters’ request to quiet things down, but that did not derail the European efforts.
The European duo’s confidence, as well as their ability to bail each other out, played a part in stemming a mid-round rally from the Americans to win 4 & 2, setting the tone for a 2.5 to 1.5 European triumph in the morning.
Perhaps showing fatigue from the busy week, as well as playing four tournaments in five weeks in the run up to the Ryder Cup, McIlroy wasn’t his sharpest in his fourth match of the week. The four-ball format allowed Pieters, also playing his fourth match, to pick up the slack by accounting for five of Europe’s seven hole wins in a 3 & 1 victory over a rested Dustin Johnson and a red-hot Brooks Koepka in the afternoon.
The Americans were strong on the back nine, but Europe’s 4-up advantage at the turn proved large enough to weather the storm.
The two stalwarts, who won three matches together this week, can further aid the comeback by performing well in Sunday singles, but Darren Clarke will surely miss the luxury of a virtual guaranteed point from these bombers.