Friday Morning Ryder Cup Recap: USA Jumps Ahead To A 3-1 Lead
Phenomenal start for the good guys. I said yesterday that the road map for an American victory was to split the foursomes and capitalize on their strengths in the other formats. Winning 3 out of 4 accomplished that and more. Their biggest names delivered, their rookies delivered, and they were only defeated by the world’s best player. They may have had the same 3-1 lead in Paris in 2018, but things will be different this time around. Let’s get to the matches.
Match 1: Rahm and Sergio Birdie Spieth/Thomas To Death
What a heavyweight bout this one was to kick things off. Wasn’t the result we wanted, but it delivered in a big way. Rahm and Sergio came out shaky the first couple of holes but found quickly found their form and simply bludgeoned the Americans to death. We had the opportunity to pounce on them on 1, but JT wasn’t able to capitalize on a 7 foot birdie putt. They cashed in on #2, but Sergio hit a beaut into #3 and Rahm converted the downhill putt even up the match and they were off to the races. That was the first of 6 birdies in the first 11 holes, staking them to a 3up lead that was too much for us to overcome. Not like JT and Spieth struggled much either (besides a few putting woes), they didn’t give up any holes with bogeys until the final 17th hole where Spieth made fucking magic happen to give them a prayer.
Regardless, sometimes you just gotta tip your cap. Those other guys just went out and won it.
Match 2: DJ and Morikawa Deliver 3&2
These two came out of the gate strong by birdieing the first 2 holes, but somehow found the match tied thru 3 and down 1 after 4. That’s match play. From there they bounced back in a big way and stepped on the gas. Birdie putt by DJ on 6 kickstarted a run where they won 4 of the next 7 holes.
By my count this pair played at -5. That’s phenomenal golf for alternate shot, and the type of performance you want and expect from your two highest ranked players. The Americans generally always have the higher ranked players in this event, and underperformance by the team’s best has historically been an issue. It wasn’t this morning. These two delivered.
Match 3: Koepka and Berger Hold On To Defeat Westwood/Fitzpatrick
This was expected to be the most lopsided match going into the day and it actually turned out to be the closest and maybe the most exciting. The FSU boys kept building 1 and 2 hole leads, and Westy and Fitzy continued to keep themselves in it, even tying up the match going into the turn. Big birdies on 10 and 11 by the Americans got them back to that comfy 2up number that was enough for them to bring home, even if things got a wee bit shaky towards the end.
I may not have been in love with this pairing going into the day, but they did the job for sure. We'll see if they get another crack at foursomes tomorrow.
Match 4: Cantlay and the X Man Absolutely CLAP Poulter And Rory 5&3
What an absolute asskicking this was. Poulter and Rory is a foursomes duo that has been a thorn in the Americans’ side for years. When it comes to Ryder Cup magic, these guys have it. Especially Poulter. Fuck that guy. He didn’t have it today. Or at least not to start. X and Cantlay did. Absolutely blitzed these guys by taking the first 5 holes. 3 by way of making birdie, and 2 by way of European bogeys. I thought we might be looking at a Tiger vs Ames situation for a minute there. The Europeans bounced back a bit after the turn, but Xander stalled their momentum a bit (even if they matched the birdies) with an absolute dart into the 12th and 13th greens.
Both these guys are Ryder Cup rookies, but this may be a go-to pairing for the Americans for the rest of this week and many years to come. Ya love to see it.
Friday Afternoon Fourballs
Captain Stricker said early in the week that he was going to set his Friday Fourball pairings and not let the outcome of the morning session affect his decision. That seems to have held true because this is what he's putting out there.
The American big guns are coming out to play. In foursomes, you tend to try to keep the ball on the map, avoid mistakes, and cash in where you can. In fourballs, it's all about going out and making birdies. You can play with some wreckless abandon when you've got a teammate you can fall back on. DeChambeau, Finau, and Scheffler were always going to be three guys that would make an appearance in this format. Pairing Bryson and Scheffler together is a lot of fun. It just feels a bit weird to shake up a couple of these pairings from this morning. Sitting Morikawa is a bit disappointing too. Regardless, every single player will have played in this Ryder Cup by the end of the day. These captains are favoring the idea of keeping some of their guys fresh.
Can't wait to see how it shakes out. Big opportunity for USA to take a commanding lead today. LFG!!!