Europe made a sensational start in their quest to regain the Ryder Cup with a clean sweep of Friday’s opening session to lead the United States 4-0.
The leaderboard was all blue from the moment Rory McIlroy holed a birdie putt on the fourth as Luke Donald’s men produced the fast start he had craved.
It is the first time Europe have won all four opening session matches.
“It’s the perfect start. They got leads early on which is paramount in match play,” said captain Luke Donald.
“But we know the US will be hungry to come back for more. We need to keep our foot firmly on the pedal.”
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton won the top match and their 4&3 win was equalled by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg.
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka were 2&1 victors, while in the bottom match Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood also came through 2&1.
“With the way the boys led us out, we didn’t want to let the side down,” McIlroy told BBC Sport. “We played solidly, and didn’t need to do anything spectacular.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you play in a Ryder Cup, there’s nothing like it in golf and we’ve got off to a good start.”
To illustrate Europe’s dominance, they did not trail in any match and won 22 holes to the American’s 10 as the defending champions suffered a demoralising morning.
It is the first time Europe has won an opening session since 2006, at the K Club in Ireland, and they went on to win all five sessions in that Ryder Cup – the only time that’s happened for either side – as they romped to an 18 1⁄2-9 1⁄2 victory.
It is the first time Europe have opted to play the alternate shot foursomes in the opening session since their previous home defeat, back in 1993. Captain Donald said earlier in the week that the stats pointed him in that direction. (BBC)
