Match report and Sunday pairings
10.35am Jon Rahm v Scottie Scheffler
10.47am Viktor Hovland v Collin Morikawa
10.59am Justin Rose v Patrick Cantlay
11.11am Rory McIlroy v Sam Burns
11.23am Matt Fitzpatrick v Max Homa
11.35am Tyrrell Hatton v Brian Harman
11.47am Ludvig Aberg v Brooks Koepka
11.59am Sepp Straka v Justin Thomas
12.11pm Nicolai Hojgaard v Xander Schauffele
12.23pm Shane Lowry v Jordan Spieth
12.35pm Tommy Fleetwood v Rickie Fowler
12.47pm Robert MacIntyre v Wyndham Clark
All times BST
Here’s Ewan Murray’s verdict from Rome – full report to follow soon.
This looked a US Ryder Cup team in utter disarray until the final seconds under a setting sun. How else to describe a record, 9&7 trouncing for the world No1 and reigning US PGA champion? How else to describe Zach Johnson advising Jordan Spieth on the 16th tee, moments before the Texan cracked his tee shot into a pond? Spieth and Justin Thomas were soon shaking hands while admitting defeat to Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre. At that point, Europe’s advantage was 10 ½ versus 4 ½. “Can we play you every week?” chanted European fans. Johnson, the US captain, looked dazed and confused.
This would look even better for Luke Donald and his European team if Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick could press home their lead over Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark. Instead, an inspired Cantlay offered the US at least faint hope. The man who is supposedly refusing to wear a hat as a form of protest against lack of payment for players in Ryder Cups finished birdie-birdie to earn the Americans a point and a 3-1 session win. Cantlay’s teammates waved their caps in an apparent show of support. McIlroy, irked by the US celebrations, said the picture on the final green provided “fuel to the fire” for day three.
Updated
Day two news and reaction
Those three consecutive clutch putts made by Patrick Cantlay could prove so valuable. The USA need their own Medinah-style miracle tomorrow … but you’ll remember Ian Poulter’s similar late-Saturday heroics that year, somehow bagging a point that gave Europe the sliver of hope? Well, that. Europe go into the final day with a huge five-shot lead … but nobody really thinks this is over yet, do they? Please join me tomorrow for what promises to be a sensational singles Sunday. See you then!
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4&3
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2&1
3&2 Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark 1UP
Europe 10½-5½ USA
Europe 10½-5½ USA
McIlroy’s effort never looks like dropping … and while Fitzpatrick sets his off on the correct line, he doesn’t hit it. A huge point for the USA, who will still believe they can turn this around! His team-mates twirl their caps in the air by way of celebration; Cantlay doffs the imaginary one he’s not wearing in return. All set up for a big day tomorrow, then! Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark beat Matthew Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark 1UP.
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (17)
Europe 10½-5½ USA
… it’s three huge clutch putts in a row by Patrick Cantlay! He calmly strokes his birdie putt on a gently oscillating route that eventually locks on a line that is clearly inevitable. He steps after it and begins to celebrate just before it drops. Now it’s over to McIlroy and Fitzpatrick; one of them will have to make their putt if Europe are to claim half a point. It’ll be the difference between a five and six-point lead going into tomorrow’s singles!
Clark chips up, in not particularly convincing fashion, to four feet. Then it’s Cantlay’s turn. He’s going for the Mickelsonesque flop too … and he seriously overcooks it, lobbing over the flag and 40 feet past! The tension is palpable, the effect of Ryder Cup nerves evident in the play! Clark tidies up for par, which at least gives Cantlay licence to give his snaky right-to-left birdie effort a good run. He steps up, and …
Clark made some fine up and downs when winning the US Open earlier this year … but he suffers a rush of blood to the head here. He attempts a high Phil Mickelsonesque lob from the semi-rough, and only just gets up the swale and onto the fringe at the front. McIlroy then whips high out of the bunker, but the ball drops on the downslope, the shoulder of the trap, and springs a good 25 feet past the hole.
Fitzpatrick wedges over the flag. He doesn’t quite get the backspin he was hoping for, but the ball comes to a quick stop at least, and he’ll have a look at birdie from 18 feet.
Fitzpatrick up first in the gloaming. He makes the smart play and lays up. Cantlay next. A 3-wood whistled towards the green bounds to the right and nestles in an awkward spot near a bunker guarding the front. The rough not ideal. Clark third up … and he does what he did yesterday, carving one out towards the gallery on the right. But he gets lucky, the ball stopping just short of the really thick stuff in the first cut. Nobody on in two. Over to Rory, who sends it into the bunker front right. On Sky, the living legends Laura Davies and Nick Faldo suggest that while Fitzpatrick is still well up the fairway, with everyone else greenside, he might have the best/easiest chance of going close.
Sky have a quick word with Brian Harman and it’s clear that this afternoon’s matches have given Team USA a huge surge of confidence. “We’ve got a deep hole to dig ourselves out of. But we’ve got a really good team. We’re excited for tomorrow.”
Fitzpatrick’s drive disappears in the thick stuff to the right of the fairway. He’ll be laying up from there. McIlroy meanwhile goes for the aggressive line down the left … and whistles his tee shot over the thickest nonsense but into rough only half-trampled by the gallery nonetheless. The USA are in the box seat here. If McIlroy hasn’t caught a good enough lie to go for the green, the Americans could be one decent approach shot away from grabbing an oh-so-precious point.
Clark first at 18. He sends a monster drive down the middle of the track! Cantlay strokes his down the right-hand side of the fairway. Two balls in the fairway for the USA. First job done. Over to Europe.
Was it ever in doubt? Calmly into the centre of the cup. Take a bow Patrick Cantlay! Europe would be chalking up a point now were it not for those two staunch ten-footers on 16 and 17. Now the USA have the chance of snatching a point that would give the holders a massive boost ahead of tomorrow’s singles showdown!
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (17)
Europe 10½-4½ USA
McIlroy plays one of the shots of the day. The crispest of wedges sent up onto the green. It looks like he’s hit it way too hard … but he knows exactly what he’s doing, the ball taking a series of little leaps before coming to a screeching halt right beside the cup! Par secured, Fitzpatrick can have a free shy for birdie. He can’t make it with his chip from the cabbage, and this is over to Cantlay. Big, big, big, big, big putt coming up from the best part of ten feet now! He’s just made a huge one on 16; can he do it again?
Cantlay is in fact nearly ten feet away. But we’re splitting hairs. McIlroy is 70 feet from the flag, and down the bottom of a hill. Clark is even further away. He takes putter and gives his ball the what-for, smashing it 25 feet past the hole. Rory will be taking wedge, suffice to say.
Clark makes like McIlroy and sends his tee shot down the swale to the left of the green too. Three dreadful shots … but Cantlay takes it up a notch by sending a high draw to eight feet! Unless something surprising happens here, the final match of the day will be the first one to go up 18.
Fitzpatrick up first at 17. He sends his tee shot onto the bank to the right of the green. Not sure whether that’s gone into the sand, or snagged in the thick stuff. Either way, with the flag tucked at the front, that’s not ideal. McIlroy meanwhile pulls one down a swale to the other side. A big open door for the USA to charge through here!
McIlroy is this close to making his big-swinging left-to-right eagle putt from 35 feet. Just a little too much juice, and it travels 35 feet and one inch, curling just behind the cup. A pick up for birdie, and now the US have two chances to match that. Clark up first from 30-odd feet. He looks to have made it, but it somehow refuses to turn in from the right at the last and stays awkwardly on the lip. But Cantlay rolls in his ten-footer, confidently so, and that’s a half. The Americans will feel much happier about that, not least because of the precarious state of this anchor match! So much riding on the next few minutes!
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (16)
Europe 10½-4½ USA
“Wyndham, where’s your ball?” chant some of the more football-minded patrons of the gallery. Miles up a hill above the green to the left, that’s where. The US Open champion scopes out the lay of the land, and lobs a fine chip that briefly threatens to hit the flagstick but ends up on the fringe 40 feet past. To be fair, that was about the best he could do from there. See also Fitzpatrick, who ends up in a similar position after thrashing out of the thick oomska. Then Cantlay splashes out of the bunker to ten feet. He’ll have a decent chance to make a birdie that, if drained, should get USA out of trouble on this hole. McIlroy has an eagle putt to come, of course, so it’s still very much advantage Europe.
Ahead of the singles, Owen from Brighton asks: “Does the home team pick who plays who? Are they randomly generated or do Europe as the hometown decide who Rory or Jon play against? Genuine question I can’t find an answer to.” Both captains will put their order of 12 players in later this evening. They’ll be trying to second guess what each other are doing, and may be pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised when the two lists are matched up and announced.
Once the 16th green clears of celebrating Europeans, Fitzpatrick clacks his tee shot over a bunker at the back. That may be ugly. McIlroy responds by sending a fade into the heart of the green. Glorious. Not so much Clark’s effort, hooked hysterically deep into the gallery on the left. Finally Cantlay, who finds the bunker back left. Not the worst place to be: Rose just got up and down from there after all. But this is advantage Europe, with McIlroy putting for eagle from 35 feet or so.
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (15)
Europe 10½-4½ USA
Europe 10½-4½ USA
Nope! Rose rattles in his right-to-left birdie slider from 15 feet, and that’s the match wrapped up with the minimum of fuss! Rose sealed the deal, but hats off to MacIntyre as well; he’d been struggling until he made a couple of big contributions after the turn. That’ll give the debutant a huge boost ahead of tomorrow’s singles … from which Europe now need just four points to win the trophy. Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre beat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 3&2.
3&2 Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (F)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (15)
Europe 10½-4½ USA
Cantlay nearly holes his chip from the back of 15, a brave effort. But realistically this is over to Clark, who can’t make his mid-range birdie putt. Never looked like dropping. The hole is tied. Meanwhile up on 16, Spieth wedges his third reasonably close, Rose splashes out from sand to 15 feet, and Thomas punches out of the cabbage to ten feet. The latter sitting two. Nothing certain there. Over to MacIntyre, whose route to the hole is compromised by a shoulder of greenside rough. He opts to chip, and is reasonably heavy handed, leaving himself a 12-footer. Putting contest coming up. Can Rose or MacIntyre finish the US pair off? Can Thomas make the birdie that may take this match up 17?
Back on 15, Cantlay’s second goes just off the back, while Clark knocks his into the heart of the green. Nobody particularly close; Rory in the sand. McIlroy does the necessary by splashing out to a couple of feet; it’s just as well, because instead of putting, Fitzpatrick strangely opts to chip, and blades a daft one miles past the flag. Pressure does funny things.
Up on the driveable 16th, MacIntyre sends a gentle draw onto the fringe. Rose finds greenside sand. Thomas powers his tee shot over the green and into the thick rough. Spieth then after a long deliberation decides to lay up … only to carve one onto the bank to the front-right of the green, his ball pitching into the water. Spieth has served up some absurd nonsense this week – wedging into the pond at 18 yesterday, for example – but that tops the lot. Europe very close to their first point of the afternoon now.
Coming behind once the green is cleared, Fitzpatrick sends his second into Thomas Country. McIlroy dunks his in a greenside bunker, and the door’s ajar for the USA.
A poor misread by Justin Rose, his par putt sliding off to the left almost immediately. Rose cheekily tries to take the bogey putt, even though he’s already out of the hole; Spieth quickly gives him it, to ensure he doesn’t give MacIntyre the line. Spieth smiles warmly, Rose does too, they enjoyed that moment. But it’s only Rose who enjoys this one: MacIntyre rolls in the par putt, and Europe are dormie three.
3UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (15)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (14)
Europe 9½-4½ USA
Spieth and Rose on 15 in three. Thomas in regulation, MacIntyre in the bunker. But Thomas will go first, because though he’s on the green, he’s further way than MacIntyre. A 60-footer for his birdie. He rolls a wonderful effort to six inches, and that’s the birdie secured. Spieth picks up, and the old pals wait to see if MacIntyre can get up and down from sand, or if Rose can make the reasonably straight 15-footer he’s left himself.
3UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (14)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (14)
Europe 9½-4½ USA
Europe 9½-4½ USA
Fleetwood’s tee shot at 17 is no good. The drama of 16 addling his mind perhaps. But he gets a lucky bounce off the grassy bank to the right, his ball ending up in the swale. Homa plays the percentages, aiming for the heart of the green, from where he’ll hope to take two putts to almost certainly seal the deal. But he races his long birdie putt six feet past! Fleetwood nearly drains his birdie effort from off the side of the green – he’s one dimple wide on the high side – and then Homa, who has been superb all afternoon, quite rightly has the honour of holing out and claiming the point. What a match that turned out to be! Max Homa and Brian Harman beat Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard 2&1.
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2&1 (F)
3UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (14)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (14)
Europe 9½-4½ USA
Back to the Cantlay-McIlroy shootout at 14. Cantlay finds the green in regulation, but McIlroy responds by sending his approach to eight feet. He pours in the putt and screams a cathartic COME ON! Another of those BIG HOURS coming up in the Ryder Cup!
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (16)
3UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (14)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (14)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Farcical scenes on the 14th tee, as Clark then Fitzpatrick take turns to carve their drive towards the cart path down the right. One bound off it, and that’s OB. That’ll be Cantlay v McIlroy. Meanwhile up the hole, Thomas, having been left to fight alone by Spieth can only make bogey, spooked into missing a ten footer after Justin Rose had made a 15-footer of his own for par. Europe go three up!
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (16)
3UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (14)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (13)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
All hail Tommy Fleetwood! That’s the vaguely Eric Cantona versus Sunderland pose he strikes – just the chest, not the arms – as he turns slowly, calmly, almost without expression, to celebrate a chip-in for eagle on 16! He does so before the ball drops, as it’s obviously heading in. What a dude. That is a sensational shot, a firm yet delicate swish through thick rough, landing just a couple of yards in front on the fringe, then rolling out on its inexorable journey to the hole! Enough for the win, and anything Max Homa can do, Tommy can do even better! Pure theatre!
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (16)
2UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (13)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (13)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Matt Fitzpatrick rakes a 25-foot birdie putt across 13 and celebrates wildly. It’s a celebration of relief rather than joy, because Wyndham Clark had knocked his tee shot to six feet, and he makes his birdie as expected. The match remains tied.
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (15)
2UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (13)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (13)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
“Did you see that thing?!” screams an incredulous Jordan Spieth as he slices his tee shot out of bounds on 14. On Sky, Paul McGinley speculates that someone’s shadow might have moved across his line on the downswing. He’s not happy, anyway. Or maybe he’s just not happy with himself, carving OB as he just did.
Nicolai Hojgaard hits one of the shots of the week on the driveable par-five 15th! A high fade with driver that lands softly in the centre of the green and rolls to ten feet! Incredible! With both Max Homa and Brian Harman missing the green, and in thick rough, this is serious advantage to Europe.
A dramatic back and forth on 15! Max Homa chunks his chip from near the cart path. Tommy Fleetwood then leaves his long birdie putt six feet short. Homa then lights the fuse by chipping in from a tricky position by to the side of a bunker! He screams and prods in the direction of someone, anyone, with real that’s-what-I’m-talking-about verve. Suddenly Fleetwood, who had been hoping to chip further into the US lead, has to make the putt to stay in the match! He rolls it in, but the USA are dormie three now.
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (15)
2UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (13)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (12)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Bob MacIntyre has struggled a wee bit this week. He delivers big here, though! Jordan Spieth’s 12-foot birdie putt stops one turn short, and the door is open. It’s a tricky downhill tickler, but he steers it in, right to left, and Europe have a cushion in the third match!
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (14)
2UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (13)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (12)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Advantage Europe on 15. Everyone misses the fairway bar Tommy Fleetwood. For the first time this afternoon, Max Homa looks a little agitated as he sends his drive off into trouble down the left. Fleetwood finds the green in regulation, but he’ll have a long two-putts for his par. He’s the only one to get there, though. Homa squirts his second across the fairway towards a cart path, while Harman finds himself at the bottom of the false front guarding the green. Meanwhile back on 13, Bob MacIntyre lands his tee shot on the ridge running across the green, the slope bringing his ball back to four feet. Huge advantage for Europe with neither Jordan Spieth nor Justin Thomas going particularly close.
Every hour at the Ryder Cup is big … but some hours are bigger than others, and the one coming up … oh my. Scenes erupt around the 12th as first Justin Rose, then Jordan Spieth, then finally Bob MacIntyre miss eight-feet birdie putts. Huge chances for both teams passed up there.
Europe aren’t of a mind to give up the second match easily either. Nicolai Hojgaard rakes a 30-footer for birdie across 14; neither Brian Harman nor Max Homa (for once) can respond, and the USA’s lead is cut to three. But some blue turns to white at the bottom of the board. Rory McIlroy, having flayed his drive up a bank to the side of 11 then chipped down delightfully to ten feet, misses his right-to-left curling birdie putt, allowing Patrick Cantlay to make one from half the distance.
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (14)
1UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (11)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (11)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Yep. Aberg’s uphill putt is always missing on the right, and he cocks his head back in disappointment. Sam Burns tidies up for par, and that’s it. But what an effort. If nothing else, the brilliant young Swedish debutant has kept the scoreline respectable, given himself and Viktor Hovland something to take away from an otherwise difficult afternoon, and perhaps planted a couple of seeds of doubt in Collin Morikawa’s mind. Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa beat Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg 4&3.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4&3 (F)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 4UP (13)
1UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (11)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (10)
Europe 9½-3½ USA
Sam Burns gives his chip from the back of 15 a good go. But it’s always staying out on the right. Over to Collin Morikawa, who has his third chance to close this match out. However this one’s from 40 feet. He does very well to roll up to a couple of feet. Viktor Hovland nearly holes out from the bunker, but a fantastic effort skirts the left-hand side of the hole. So it’s going to be up to Ludvig Aberg to keep this match alive for the third hole in a row. Too much to ask?
Ludvig Aberg is some talent. Europe have to go for it at every hole in the lead match, but that’s easier said than done, and from 180 yards he takes on the greenside bunkers guarding the pin on the right. He lands his ball ten feet from the flag. By contrast, Collin Morikawa, hardly a slouch with the irons himself, can only find the middle portion of the green. Sam Burns sends a flyer over it. The door’s not fully open, exactly, but it is ajar. Unless one of the Americans does something sensational with their next shot, Aberg will be putting to extend again.
Updated
Tommy Fleetwood pours one in from 15 feet for birdie at 13. But there’s no stopping the irrepressible Max Homa, who walks in a birdie of his own from similar distance, then points theatrically into the cup while staring at the gallery. To be fair, he might be celebrating with his own fans, rather than baiting Europe’s. There are a fair few Americans enjoying themselves vocally right now. And why not.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (14)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 4UP (13)
1UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (11)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (10)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
… Morikawa misses another chance to close out the match from close range! This one nervously pushed wide right. History has indeed repeated itself, and in short order, dormie six is now dormie four. To repeat, this is almost certainly simply the delay of the inevitable, but whatever happens now, it’ll have built up a little scar tissue on Collin Morikawa’s soul ahead of tomorrow’s singles.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (14)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 4UP (12)
1UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (10)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (10)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Aberg pours in his birdie putt! It’s his third birdie in a row, a serious case of too much, too late, right? Because Morikawa steps up, and …
History starts to repeat itself on 14. Collin Morikawa creams a long iron to five feet. All over? Well, again, probably. But there’s a chance that Ludwig Aberg will ask the question again, because he fires in to similar range. Will Morikawa hold his nerve to convert the win this time? Before we find out, as expected, Homa’s glorious second into 12 puts the USA up in match two.
Max Homa is completely on top of his game this afternoon. Having nearly spun his wedge in for eagle at 11, he’s set himself up for a tap-in eagle at the par-five 12th. A 3-iron pearled from 240 yards to a couple of feet! Outstanding. He and Brian Harman will most likely be going four up in a couple of minutes.
Well, well, well. Sam Burns’ putt lips out. It shouldn’t matter, with Morikawa a couple of feet away. But he shoves a nervy one left, and that one lips out too! It’s surely just delaying the inevitable, but that’ll give the young Scandinavian duo succour ahead of the singles tomorrow after what still looks like being a diminuendo end to their genuinely weird day. Meanwhile another birdie for Justin Rose, this time at 10, and he’s turned match three around in short order!
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 5UP (13)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (11)
1UP Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth (10)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (9)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
The lead game will surely be all over in a minute. Sam Burns knocks his tee shot at the short par-three 13th pin high to 15 feet. Not bad. But then Collin Morikawa sends his tee shot over the flag, using the ridge across the green as a backstop that brings the ball back to a couple of feet. Almost a certain birdie … but he’ll have to make that putt, because Ludvig Aberg replicates Morikawa’s shot, and goes even closer! He’ll have a pick-up birdie. What a pair of shots! Too little, too late, but if you’re going to go out, you may as well go out in style.
Ludwig Aberg lobs elegantly down from the grassy mound to the right of 12. He sets up a good chance for birdie … but before he can take it, Collin Morikawa walks in his short eagle putt – he’d creamed a glorious second from 220 yards to ten feet – and the USA are indeed dormie six in the lead match! Meanwhile Nicolai Hojgaard steers in an eight-foot right-to-left curler for birdie at 11. Only problem for Europe is, Max Homa had nearly backspun his wedge into the cup, and he tidies up for an easy birdie of his own.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 6UP (12)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (11)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (9)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (9)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa could be dormie six soon. Morikawa is on the par-five 12th in 2, while Viktor Hovland has driven into a bunker, and Ludwig Aberg has sent his approach up the grassy bank to the right of the green. Should it happen, it won’t be quite as jaw-dropping as the dormie eight their opponents Hovland and Aberg put up this morning against Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, en route to a 9&7 win, but on pretty much any other day in Ryder Cup history it’d be the lead story! Quite the turnaround in fortunes for the Scandinavians.
Justin Rose is just short of the par-five 9th in two. A chip and a putt, and birdie ties the match again with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas making a short-game hames of it. The only fortysomething in the entire tournament is making his presence felt this afternoon; that’s Rose’s second win of the match so far and he’s single-handedly keeping Team Europe in contention.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 5UP (11)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (10)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (9)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (8)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Play has slowed down this afternoon. A real grind. The first match has just ticked past the three-hour mark and they’re only through 11 holes. Not that Team USA will care at all; they’ve just gone five up, so the pace is fine by them. Collin Morikawa doesn’t take a shy for the driveable par-four green, instead laying up to his favoured wedging distance, spinning to eight feet, and walking in the putt. The lead game is as good as over. But there’s life in match two, as Tommy Fleetwood sends his approach to ten feet, then makes the birdie putt to reduce Europe’s arrears to three.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 5UP (11)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (10)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (8)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (8)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy both miss mid-range birdie efforts on 8. Patrick Cantlay still has a five-footer for his par … but he’s never missing it, rattling it with supreme confidence into the middle of the cup. Never touching the sides. Europe have had their chances recently in the bottom two matches, but they’re not taking them. The ruthlessness of the first three sessions has all but evaporated.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (10)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 4UP (9)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (8)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (8)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Viktor Hovland takes the flag out at 10 and chips in for par. It’s only good enough for a half, but that’s got the gallery going at least, and maybe it’ll give the young European duo some succour as they attempt to stage an unlikely fightback.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (10)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 4UP (9)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (8)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (7)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
JT hits a fat one out of the rough at 8 and finds the drink. He and his partner are past masters in dovetailing, though, and Jordan Spieth artfully sends a long bunker shot to three feet, and cleans up for the hole-saving par. Meanwhile up on 9, Tommy Fleetwood is always out of position after driving into the rough, Nicolai Hojgaard pulls his approach into the creek, and when Brian Harman finds the putting surface in two, the jig is effectively up. Unless something very strange happens from here, the USA will be winning the first two fourballs. They’re four holes up in both matches.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (9)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 4UP (9)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (8)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (7)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Matt Fitzpatrick was draining everything yesterday. Today, not so much. He’s got a straight putt across 7 to win the hole, but the 25-footer is pulled a tad to the left. Hole tied but Europe remain one up. “I find that the best way to avoid the ‘jam side down’ problem, Scott, is to drop the bread on the floor first, then spread the jam. Works every time, in fact.” Our old pal Simon McMahon with some expert preserve-application advice there. Well, he is from Dundee.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (9)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (8)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (7)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (7)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Birdie for Collin Morikawa at the par-five 9th, and the USA are romping away with the lead match. Viktor Hovland and Ludwig Aberg rewrote the record book this morning with their 9&7 victory over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka; the boot is firmly on the other foot this afternoon, and it’s tap-dancing on Europe’s pain.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 4UP (9)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (8)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (7)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (6)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
A huge stroke of luck for Justin Thomas at 7. He carves his tee shot towards the grassy bank to the right of the green, only to take an outrageous 90-degree left-turn bounce out of the thick rough. The ball rolls through a swale, then onto the green, and ends up five feet from the cup! That’s rattled Bob MacIntyre, whose tee shot I undersold: he’s just six feet away. But he doesn’t give his birdie putt enough on the high side, and it curls away apologetically to the right. Lucky JT … but then he grabbed his opportunity with both hands, while MacIntyre let his chance slip through his fingers. The USA are up in three matches again!
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (8)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (8)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (7)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (6)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Ewan Murray is in Rome. Here’s his report on Jon Rahm coming right back at Brooks Koepka.
… but does it matter? Not this time! Justin Rose drains a 30-footer in for birdie, and match three is tied again when Jordan Spieth leaves his 15-footer well short of the hole. Bob MacIntyre then turns up the heat a little by sending his tee shot at 7 straight at the pin. No clatter this time and it rolls 12 feet past. He’ll have a good look at birdie, and the Scottish debutant’s last couple of shots suggests he might be getting his eye in at long last.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (8)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (7)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (6)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (5)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Bob MacIntyre’s wedge into 6 clatters into the flagstick and flies ten feet away. Had the ball been allowed to go about its business without intervention, it could well have stuck a couple of feet from the flag. Up until this session, Europe had enjoyed nearly all of the rub of the green; now the bread is occasionally falling jam side down.
Rory McIlroy’s eagle putt at 5 is as dreadful as the tee shot to set it up was amazing. Set out immediately to the right and never coming back. That allows Wyndham Clark to salvage a half with a birdie putt from five feet. First Clark makes off with the US Open, now this, huh Rory. Meanwhile Brian Harman so nearly drains a long straight(ish) birdie putt up 7. It somehow stubbornly stays out on the high side. So close to a four-hole lead.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (8)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (7)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (5)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (5)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Rory McIlroy is the one shaft of European light at the moment. Well, that and the current scoreline, but you get the general thrust. He absolutely creams his fairway wood off the tee at 5 over the drink, and over the flag, the ball coming back down the slope towards the cup. He’ll look at eagle from 11 feet!
Max Homa and Sam Burns are doing all they can to drag the USA back into contention. Burns very nearly chips in from the bottom of a swale at 7; Aberg salvages a half with an adriot flop from the back. Europe hanging on by their fingernails in the lead match. Meanwhile back on 6, Homa strokes in a 15-footer that looked in the nanosecond it left the face of his putter. The USA are three up in the first two matches … and Justin Rose is required to make a missable five-footer on 5 to remain just one down in match three. He punches the air with grim determination. All of a sudden, this Ryder Cup is hard work for Europe.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (7)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 3UP (6)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (5)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (4)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
A mistake resting Jon Rahm this afternoon? Time will tell, but the worth of fielding your biggest stars is amply demonstrated by Rory McIlroy, who sends his tee shot at 4 to six feet and walks in the birdie putt. The first splash of blue on the board this afternoon, at a time when Europe desperately needed something to go their way.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (7)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (5)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (4)
1UP Fitzpatrick/McIlroy v Cantlay/Clark (4)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
On Sky, Laura Davies and Nick Dougherty ponder Sam Burns’ decision to take on the European fans. Will it come back to haunt him, they wonder. Well, taking on the Ryder Cup crowds never did Patrick Reed any harm. And if you can’t give some back when the going’s good, when can you? The going is indeed good for Team USA, as well, with Justin Rose giving Jordan Spieth a read of his short birdie putt at 4, and suddenly the holders are leading in three of the four matches!
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (6)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (5)
Rose/MacIntyre v Thomas/Spieth 1UP (4)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (3)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Updated
… but the putts that don’t drop for Aberg and Hovland prove costly. Sam Burns, having sent a delightful approach to three feet, tidies up for his third birdie of the day. He then takes on the crowd, cupping his ear and shouting “What was that? Eh?! I can’t hear you!” Hey, if the crowd are going to dish out some abuse, prepare to take a volley back.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 3UP (6)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (5)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (3)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (3)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
The putts suddenly aren’t dropping for Europe. Aberg so close to draining a long birdie effort across 6; Viktor Hovland leaves a 20-foot right-to-left curler short and high. Rory McIlroy’s birdie attempt at 3, loses energy and dies to the right. A 50-footer for eagle for Tommy Fleetwood at 5 turns shy at the last; Homa’s 12-foot eagle effort glides by on the left, and Europe get out of Dodge with a tie. “Seven points clear and still the chickens cannot be counted,” shudders Paul Maguire. “The US win three-plus points in this one and we could have a reverse Medinah on our hands. Momentum!”
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 2UP (5)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (5)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (3)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (3)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Updated
Max Homa isn’t too far away from making a hole-in-one albatross at the short par-four 5th. A fairway wood aimed straight at the flag. One bounce, then nearly a slam dunk. It might have even grazed the flagstick! As it is, a good eagle chance coming up. Tommy Fleetwood is also on the dancefloor, albeit nowhere near as close.
There’s something in the air. A few European nerves for the first time this week. Some determined front-foot play by the Americans. A momentum shift. Here’s the thing, if the USA were to sweep this session, they’d only be three points behind going into the singles, at which they’re historically the stronger. So look here, as Ludvig Aberg’s short birdie putt on 5 horseshoes out, and Sam Burns purposefully rams one home from similar range! The US now have a cushion in the two lead matches. Nobody on either side should get too far ahead of themselves yet. A long, long, long, long way to go.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 2UP (5)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (4)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (2)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (2)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Some classic matchplay shenanigans on 4. Max Homa, who has had that steely, determined look in his eyes all day, steers a 30-foot left-to-right birdie swinger over a ridge and straight in. What a putt! Suddenly Nicolai Hojgaard’s putt looks double the length, and he never looks like making it. A very nervy one and Europe, having harboured hopes of drawing level, go two down.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 1UP (4)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 2UP (4)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (2)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (2)
Updated
Thanks Niall. It’s been a promising start to the afternoon session by Team USA … though Viktor Hovland does his best to check some of that early momentum with birdie at 4. That reduces Europe’s arrears … and there’s more Scandinavian promise coming behind, as Nicolai Hojgaard fires a gorgeous iron straight at the flag on the par-three and sets up a six-foot birdie chance. Everyone else in match two looking at one from a way further out.
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 1UP (4)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 1UP (3)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (2)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (1)
Time to hand you back to the one and only Scott Murray to guide you through the afternoon’s action.
Hovland sinks a birdie on the par-three fourth to cut the US lead, met by roars from the crowd – and Rose comes close to snatching a lead over Thomas and Spieth. A sign of how quickly things can change. Here’s how it stands in the early stages:
Hovland/Aberg v Burns/Morikawa 1UP (4)
Fleetwood/Hojgaard v Homa/Harman 1UP (3)
Rose/MacIntyre A/S Thomas/Spieth (2)
Fitzpatrick/McIlroy A/S Cantlay/Clark (1)
“I reckon Team USA would take the draw now, don’t you think?” asks Simon McMahon. “And to borrow a line from the great Sid Waddell, even that would be the greatest comeback since Lazarus.”
At the third, Aberg can only make a bogey, and Burns nails the par putt to move the US pair 2up in the first match. McIlroy isn’t having fun on the first – playing out from under a tree, he gets about as close to the green as he can. Fitzpatrick tidies up his par putt, though, and the first hole is tied when Cantlay misses his birdie chance.
Updated
The US captain, Zach Johnson, talks to Sky. He bristles at suggestions the team are in “crisis mode”, insisting there are still 16 points left to play for. He is keen to praise Europe’s performance rather than pick over the USA’s struggles, and is asked how he will rally his players. “Be present, and stand shoulder to shoulder with each other.”
Spieth will have a short putt to birdie the first – but before he does so, MacIntyre drains a 20-footer to turn up the pressure! Spieth makes sure, but it’s a tie rather than a third US lead.
Back at the first tee, Cantlay and Clark begin in style, finding the right of the fairway. Fitzpatrick skews his tee shot to the left – and McIlroy’s effort drifts into a dreadful spot between two bunkers!
Jordan Spieth produces a superb second shot on the first hole, landing six feet from the green to continue a strong American start to the fourballs.
On the second hole, Fleetwood digs out of a bunker to the edge of the green, with Hojgaard getting a better position. Homa drifts a little wide with his effort, while Harman lands in a rough patch behind the pin.
Updated
Burns and Hovland both pass up decent birdie chances on the second, so the USA stay 1up in that first match. The final fourballs, which pits Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy against Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark, begins in five minutes.
Homa finds the best approach shot on the first, and follows up with a birdie to put the USA 1up in both of the opening fourballs.
Next up at the tee, it’s ITV3 detective duo Rose and MacIntyre against Spieth and Thomas. It’s Robert MacIntyre who gets the best distance off the tee, sailing into the heart of the fairway.
Luke Donald speaks to Sky: “Amazing, to win the session 3-1 … we keep going forward. That’s the only way – we’ll never underestimate the US. I have faith in all 12 [players], we are resting Jon [Rahm] – happy to send Viktor and Ludvig back out, they only played 11 holes.” That’s a dig!
“Europe already have more points than they won at the whole of the last Ryder Cup,” notes Richard Morris. Indeed – the US won 19-9 at Whistling Straits back in 2021, Europe’s biggest-ever defeat.
Hovland is able to secure par, but Sam Burns takes his birdie chance and the USA go 1up in the first fourballs match. The comeback’s on!
The second match is teeing off, with Fleetwood and Hojgaard taking on Homa and Harman – who were the only US pair to pick up a point in the foursomes. Homa finds the fairway, Harman drifts a few feet into the rough, while the European pair get a better lie on the right of the fairway.
Updated
Burns finds a decent spot on the 1st fairway, with Morikawa in the light rough. Aberg finds the fairway but Hovland is in a spot of bother out to the left. Not to worry – he plays a beauty into the heart of the green, drawing cheers from the blue-and-yellow masses in Rome.
Thanks Scott, and hello everyone. To recap for those of you waking up, Europe took the morning foursomes 3-1 to extend their lead to 9½-2½, with Hovland and Aberg beating Scheffler and Koepka by a record 9&7. Yowza!
No rest for Viktor and Ludvig – they are straight back out there in the first fourballs match against Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa …
With that, I’m off to refuel. Back in a bit, but Niall McVeigh will be on point for the early action in the Saturday fourballs. See you soon.
11.25am: Viktor Hovland / Ludvig Aberg v Sam Burns / Collin Morikawa
11.40am: Tommy Fleetwood / Nicolai Hojgaard v Max Homa / Brian Harman
11.55am: Justin Rose / Robert MacIntyre v Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth
12.10pm: Matt Fitzpatrick / Rory McIlroy v Patrick Cantlay / Wyndham Clark
Morning foursomes result
This hardly needs pointing out, but we’ll say it anyway: the USA are in a whole world of pain. For a while, it looked as though another European foursomes whitewash was on the cards. Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg eviscerated the world number one Scottie Scheffler and the five-time major winner Brooks Koepka by a record-breaking score of 9&7. But the USA then hauled themselves back into the session, and at one point looked as though they could even nick it, but Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood held Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth at bay, the American pair paying for their cold start, then Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton came back at the resurgent Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele at the death. All of a sudden it’s another big session for Europe, 3-1.
2&1 McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth
9&7 Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 4&2
2&1 Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Schauffele addresses the ball, then spots something on the grass that breaks his attention. He smartly steps away and resets himself, but then makes another uncertain stab at the ball, and it lips out on the left. The USA hauled themselves back into that match from three down, only to give it all up at the end by missing a couple of short putts. Poor Xander Schauffele wears a haunted look, the classic thousand-yard stare. That will hurt badly. Still, what a tee shot to win the match by Rahmbo. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton beat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 2&1.
2&1 Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (F)
Europe 9½-2½ USA
Now it’s Jon Rahm’s turn to take a bow, because he comes about the width of three dimples away from acing 17! He sends a gentle draw straight at the flag. It lands six feet short of the flag, takes a couple of little skips to the left, and rolls out to six inches! That’s a pick-up birdie … but not a certain win, because Patrick Cantlay, the USA’s backs to the wall, flings a dart of his own to five feet! Big chance to take this down 18 … though it’ll be a comprehensive stress-test of Xander Schauffele’s mettle, given the short putt he missed at the previous hole.
Afternoon fourball pairings
The afternoon pairings have been announced. Here’s the draw. No Scottie Scheffler, no Brooks Koepka, no surprise there.
Viktor Hovland / Ludvig Aberg v Sam Burns / Collin Morikawa
Tommy Fleetwood / Nicolai Hojgaard v Max Homa / Brian Harman
Justin Rose / Robert MacIntyre v Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth
Matt Fitzpatrick / Rory McIlroy v Patrick Cantlay / Wyndham Clark
Take a bow, Tyrrell Hatton! He slides a confident right-to-left slider into the centre of the cup. Birdie! He holds a fist of triumph in the air, and his partner Jon Rahm nods his gratitude. You got us out of a hole there, partner. Xander Schauffele’s putt suddenly looks a whole lot longer, and he’s already buckled in this exact situation once this week, yesterday in the foursomes on 15. Now he does exactly the same thing again, pulling a nervous one wide left! Europe go one up again, with just two holes to play. Huge par three coming up!
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (16)
Europe 8½-2½ USA
This is such a crucial match. That explains the amount of time Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay (let’s cut him some slack in these circumstances) take to size up their chips. Cantlay eventually wedges aggressively, the ball nearly clanking into the flagstick but eventually sailing four feet past. Work to be done there. Over to Rahm, who bumps carelessly 12 feet past. The only good thing about that chip is that Hatton will be putting first, and if he sinks it, the pressure will be piled onto Schauffele. But this is very much advantage USA, and their fans, who haven’t had too much to sing about, are in good voice right now.
Schauffele and Hatton take turns to cream their 3-woods to the edge of the 16th green. Chipping and putting contest coming up!
Hatton can’t make it, though. What he assumed to be a left-to-right breaker stays straight, and he chunters on to himself in irritation. As well he might, because his mistake from the centre of the fairway has cost Europe the chance of winning that hole. Cantlay walks in the USA’s putt, and bogey is good enough for the tie. Big opportunity spurned.
Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (15)
Europe 8½-2½ USA
Schauffele hits a crisp, clever chip up the bank and onto the green, using the camber as a backstop. The ball rolls back round to 12 feet. That’s a brilliant effort from where he was. Rahm then flops up to a similar distance. Hatton will have a putt to win the hole.
Cantlay can’t muscle America’s third onto the green. It bounds off to the right, stopping just short of a bunker in the second cut. Schauffele will have to get this chip close if the USA are to ask any serious question of Rahm and Hatton’s scrambling skills.
Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (14)
Europe 8½-2½ USA
Having hauled themselves back into the anchor match, Team USA immediately make a big mistake. Cantlay pulls his drive at 15 towards a tree down the right. Schauffele can only hack out of the tangled hell he finds himself, and advance the ball into more rough. It’s a bit lighter down there, is the best reading of that situation. Rahm meanwhile had found the fairway … but Hatton pulls his second into the rough to the left of the green, so the US aren’t out of this yet.
Just the one match left out on the course now, and it’s three holes in a row for Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele! Jon Rahm leaves Tyrrell Hatton atop a grassy knoll by the side of 14, and getting up and down is essentially a pipe dream. Europe were three up with seven holes to play; now they’re all square and the USA now have a very real opportunity to get out of this session level.
2&1 McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (F)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 4&2 (F)
Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (14)
Europe 8½-2½ USA
Europe 8½-2½ USA
Justin Thomas chips up to a couple of feet. The putt isn’t conceded. Tommy Fleetwood, up against the fringe, then rolls a hysterical putt downhill and 12 feet past the pin. All of a sudden, what looked like a lost cause for Team USA is back on. But only for a moment. Will they be going up 18? Nope. Rory McIlroy, who has missed a few putts today, nails one when it’s really needed. He guides in the slight right-to-left slider for the win and the match! Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood beat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 2&1.
Europe 7½-2½ USA
Team USA puts its first point on the board! They do it in style, too, Max Homa walking in a downhill right-to-left chip from the fringe at 16. Homa and Brian Harman exploded into life after the turn, and they’ve blown Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka away. Max Homa and Brian Harman beat Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka 4&2.
Another big rules brouhaha involving Thomas and Spieth. Just like back on 6, they’re claiming an embedded lie, and just like back on 6, they don’t like the ruling the referee makes. Spieth can only whip violently out of the jungle-themed garbage and hope for the best. The ball rolls off the other side of the green, and the USA are up against both the fringe, and it.
1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (16)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (15)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (13)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
More trenchant language from JT. He calls himself an “effing dickhead” as he carves his tee shot into thick rubbish up a bank to the right of 17. That could potentially be the match if Rory can send his tee shot close … which he sort of does, finding the fringe at the back, 25 feet from the pin. Only just, mind, his ball landing in the thick stuff before taking a friendly bounce back out. Meanwhile Brian Harman walks in a par putt for a half that puts the USA dormie three in the third match, while Xander Schauffele does likewise on 13 to further eat into Europe’s lead in the anchor game.
1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (16)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (15)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (13)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
Rory can’t get close with his chip from the back of 16. Thomas can from the front, though, and Europe’s lead in this to-and-fro match is reduced to one hole. The USA snatch one back in the anchor game, too, as Cantlay fizzes a long iron at the par-five 12th to four feet. Schauffele tidies up for eagle.
1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (16)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (14)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (12)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
Poor Scottie Scheffler. He’s taken that record beating hard. Now sat on the sidelines supporting his team-mates, he’s pictured looking a bit teary, his wife Meredith consoling him. The USA might be playing badly, but it’s not as though they don’t care passionately. Hard to watch such a decent and likeable young man so upset. Here’s to his enjoying better days again soon.
Updated
Birdie for Rahm and Hatton on the short par-four 11th. They re-establish a three-hole lead in the anchor game. Over to another short par-four, and on 16 Fleetwood crashes his tee shot onto the green. The ball bounds through the back and disappears into cabbage. Spieth responds by sending a gentle fade towards the front of the green. Just off. Advantage USA, who will have by far the easier chip.
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (15)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (14)
3UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (11)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
Tommy Fleetwood finds the middle of the 15th green. Jordan Spieth, in knee-high nonsense, can only dump America’s approach into greenside filth. Not the worst lie for Justin Thomas, though with a bunker very close by, his stance is awkward. He grips down on the shaft and punches out … but not with enough power, and the ball breaks off to the left, well away from the hole. Plenty of work still to do there as Rory McIlroy examines the putt that’d win the hole. He’s missed a couple of short-ish ones today … but now he drains a 30-foot left-to-right slider for birdie to pull two clear again. Cue more effing and jeffing: “Effing come on!” he screams at top volume. Poor Sky Sports. They mean well!
Max Homa and Brian Harman are showing the sort of fight lacking in so much of the USA’s play so far this week. Sepp Straka nearly aces 13 – it’s a pick-up birdie – but Homa clacks his tee shot pin high to six feet, and Harmon rolls in the hole saver. Europe will have fancied their chances of eating into the deficit there, but that’s a huge blow to them with holes running out.
1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (14)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (13)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (10)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
The players have all week been effing and jeffing like Alexei Sayle on the b-side of the Ullo John! Gotta New Motor 12-inch. A niche reference perhaps, but there it is. Justin Thomas channels his inner Mr Sweary by spitting EFF at great volume. The Sky commentators have had a lot of apologising to do this week. Anyway, that’s because he’s carved his tee shot at 15 off into trouble down the right, a big mistake with the USA having hauled themselves back into the match. Europe are on the short stuff.
Lowry gives his long birdie putt on 12 a good run, but it slips wide left, and that’s three holes in a row for Team USA. Homa and Harman gracefully pulling away from Lowry and Straka. Meanwhile that eagle-eagle trade on 12 has clearly rattled McIlroy and Fleetwood: Spieth nearly drains his long birdie effort, McIlroy can’t make his monster par putt to save the day, and the European pair look slightly concerned as they walk off to the next tee. Spieth and JT have a renewed spring in their step.
1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (14)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (12)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (10)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
Max Homa nearly holes out from 150 yards at 12! It’s a pick-up birdie. Sepp Straka’s approach into the heart of the green is decent, but Shane Lowry will need to rake in a 30-footer to stop Europe falling three holes behind. And more American momentum news on 14, with Thomas and Spieth on in two, McIlroy and Fleetwood having taken one more after hacking their way through the rough.
Tell you what, that eagle putt of Jordan Spieth’s on 12 could be huge momentum shifter! Because having stopped Europe going four up with six to play, he’s now rattled in a 15-foot left-to-right drifter for birdie on 13, and suddenly the lead match is back on. Elsewhere, it’s back-to-back birdies for Homa and Harman at 10 and 11, and birdie for Cantlay and Schauffele on 9. Has the electrifying shock of that 9&7 rout sparked the USA into some kind of rearguard action?
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (13)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 2UP (11)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (9)
Europe 7½-1½ USA
9&7 though! To put that into context, the previous biggest margin of victory in a Ryder Cup foursomes match was 7&6, a result recorded by …
Tom Kite and Hale Irwin v Ken Brown and Des Smyth (1979)
Mark O’Meara and Paul Azinger v Nick Faldo and David Gilford (1991)
Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson v Luke Donald and Lee Westwood (2012)
Those were all USA wins. Europe’s previous best result was 7&5, achieved by
José Rivero and José Maria Cañizares v Tom Kite and Calvin Peete (1985)
Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer v Paul Azinger and Payne Stewart (1993)
… so this is a comprehensive rewriting of the record books. Where’s Spartacus Mills when you need him?
So here’s how outrageous that scoreline is. Up on 12, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth trade putts to half the hole in eagle … and it almost seems like an afterthought. It’s worth stating again: Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg have just seen off the world number one Scottie Scheffler and the five-time major champion Brooks Koepka 9&7.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (12)
9&7 Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (F)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (10)
3UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (8)
Europe 7½-1½ USA: Hovland/Aberg win 9&7!
The jig as good as up, Brooks Koepka wonders if he can be bothered to walk down the swale to take his shot. He eventually heads over, and soon perhaps wishes that he didn’t, flashing the ball miles past the hole. His and Scheffler’s performance has been as inept as Hovland and Aberg’s was brilliant. In that sense it’s half and half, if you will. Arnold Palmers all round! Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg beat Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9&7.
Brooks Koepka sends a flyer out of a bunker. Scottie Scheffler bashes out of the rough he’s in, but the ball topples off down a swale. They’re on the verge of a 9&7 shellacking!
“Shit!” There’s no other word for it, apologies kids. That’s the one uttered by Scottie Scheffler as he carves one miles right on the 11th tee. That ball’s heading for trouble, and Scheffler and Brooks Koepka are heading for an unwanted spot in the record books. Meanwhile another birdie for Rahm and Hatton, this time on 8, and Europe are taking control of the anchor match. The USA are neck-deep in some very unwelcome matter.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (11)
8UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (10)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (9)
3UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (8)
Updated
Team USA take one step forward, two steps back. Brian Harman’s bunker shot at 9 doesn’t go close. Max Homa nearly drains a mid-range par putt, but the teams are all-square again in match three. Then Thomas and Spieth manage to combine to birdie 11 … only problem being, Rory McIlroy had creamed his tee shot at the driveable par-four to 15 feet, and Tommy Fleetwood rolls in the eagle putt! And on 10, Brooks Koepka drives into rough. Team USA out of position, Viktor Hovland applies boot pressure to the neck by flinging a dart to ten feet, and all of a sudden Europe are dormie eight. This is preposterous.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (11)
8UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (10)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (9)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (6)
We’re currently in a position where the USA need the Europeans to make mistakes. Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood oblige on 10. The former dunks carelessly into a greenside bunker, the latter only just escapes it, leaving the ball in the thick rough on the shoulder. Hole to USA. On Sky, the 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem emits the most irony-drenched “woo-hoo!” in the entire history of human emotion.
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (10)
7UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (9)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (8)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (6)
Viktor Hovland nearly drains an eagle putt. So Scottie Scheffler has to hole out from the penalty area if Team USA aren’t to go seven down. The miracle doesn’t happen. This is carnage. This is Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler we’re taking about here! Two double bogeys and two bogeys (it would almost certainly have been three had everyone not picked up on 9) on the front nine! What on earth is going on?
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (9)
7UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (9)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (8)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (6)
The performance of Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler, a five-time major winner and the current world number one, is beyond farcical. Koepka pulls his 3-wood into the drink down the left of 9, and it’s beginning to look as though they’ll hit the turn seven holes down. Meanwhile Tyrrell Hatton drains a 25-footer on 6 to put Europe two up in the anchor match, but birdie on 8 for Max Homa and Brian Harman, their third of the day so far, puts some red back on the board.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (9)
6UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (8)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (8)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (6)
Updated
Jordan Spieth is almost certainly the greatest escapologist in the game today. But his mojo has temporarily deserted him. He tries to bundle one up onto 9; he doesn’t get anywhere close. A good 12 feet short. He’s leaving JT behind the 8-ball time and time again. Lucky they’re such good friends. Thomas can’t make the par saver, and the USA are in all sorts here. Meanwhile here’s some diacritic-infused fun courtesy of our old pal Gary Naylor: “Ludvig Åberg is such a natural, he even has a golf ball teed up on his surname.”
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (9)
6UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (8)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (7)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (5)
JT strains every sinew to power USA’s third towards the green. He can’t quite make it, the ball disappearing down a swale to the right, but that’s quite the effort from where he’d found himself. McIlroy knocks Europe’s third to eight feet, so now it’s Spieth’s turn to find something special from the bottom of the bank. We know he’s got the magic in him; will his confidence betray him again?
Yep, once the players get to the green, it’s time to pick up. No point faffing about. Meanwhile there’s trouble for Thomas and Spieth, the former driving into thick cabbage, the latter unable to extricate the ball from trouble. McIlroy’s tee shot found the rough as well, but Fleetwood was able to find the centre of the fairway with his second. Advantage Europe here. Thomas needs to find some magic here.
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (8)
6UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (8)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (7)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (4)
Scheffler finds Koepka’s tee shot in the penalty area to the left of 8. He can get a club to it, but only just, the big man unable to advance it onto the fairway. Koepka lays up from the rough, whereupon Hovland finds the centre of the green. Scheffler wedges on, but USA will be putting for bogey while Europe attempt to make birdie. The jig is almost certainly up for the visitors on this hole.
Justin Thomas, who is battling against Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and the demons of Jordan Spieth, walks in his birdie putt on 8. He hollers as he claws back a hole. His street-fighting performances are certainly justifying his captain’s pick. He’s the only American player out there this morning who is flat-out refusing to let his head drop, strutting defiantly, chest pumped. He’s doing all he can to turn the tide.
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (8)
5UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (7)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (6)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (4)
Brooks Koepka is all over the place. Specifically at 8, into pure filth down the left of the hole. Possibly a penalty area. Let’s see. Ludvig Aberg splits the fairway. Further up the hole, both teams in the lead match have to lay up, and Spieth finally brings something to the table by wedging close, inside a decent effort by Fleetwood. Advantage USA when McIlroy tentatively misses his ten-foot putt. Meanwhile in the anchor match, Europe are passing up opportunities to take control, Hatton missing from close range on 3, Rahm leaving a half-chance short on 4.
A putting competition on 7. Koepka leaves his 40-footer four feet short; Aberg nearly drains one from a similar distance. Pressure’s on Scheffler, and he stands firm this time, a confident roll that secures a half. Meanwhile back on 6, Straka sends Europe’s second close; Team USA are short of the green and when they fail to get up and down, the hosts are instructed to pick up their coin. All square again.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (7)
5UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (7)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (6)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (3)
Jordan Spieth is suffering a complete golfing meltdown at the moment. He can’t put a good stroke on anything. Justin Thomas sets him up with a very makeable six-foot birdie putt on the par-three 7; the subsequent pull feels somehow inevitable. A big chance to grab back a hole is spurned. He then responds to Fleetwood missing the fairway to the left of 7 by flaying his tee shot into filth down the other side. He’s a difficult watch right now.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (7)
5UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (6)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (5)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (2)
Updated
Europe are relentless. Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland send their second shots at 6 to ten feet or so. Brooks Koepka leaves his up on the high side; Ludvig Aberg walks his into the centre of the cup. Five up after six holes: this is some debut for the 23-year-old Swede. Bogey for Lowry and Straka at 5, though, and there’s a much-needed dash of red on the board again.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (6)
5UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (6)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (5)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (2)
Updated
Spieth can’t do anything right at the moment, and he leaves his long, long, long must-make bogey putt short. The hole’s conceded, handed straight back to Europe. While that kerfuffle was developing, Shane Lowry knocked his approach at 3 to eight feet, and Sepp Straka walked in the birdie putt to tie up match three. In match two, the short par-four 5th was tied in birdie. And in the anchor match, par is enough for Europe to hit the lead in that one too. So much for USA’s fast start.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (6)
4UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (5)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (4)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (2)
“Can we get a second opinion, please?” Jordan Spieth isn’t happy with the referee. Having sent his tee shot into greenside junk at 6, he’s claiming an embedded lie. Doesn’t look as though he’s going to get the decision he wants. The debate continues. Eventually JT hacks through the thick rough … and doesn’t get the ball out. He stumbles and accidentally kicks it. He immediately informs the referee, but they play on anyway. They eventually reach the green in an as yet unconfirmed number of shots – the official scoring currently claims four - but it’s almost certainly moot anyway because Europe are on in two. Thomas and Spieth are properly rattled; they’re all over the shop.
… and there’s another huge moment as the astonishing Aberg nearly aces the par-three 4th! An arrow at the flag that stops maybe one or two turns short. That’s given. Scheffler has to make the straight eight-foot birdie putt that Koepka leaves him with … but he leaves it short!
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (5)
4UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (4)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (2)
Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (1)
Ludvig Åberg comes within inches of a hole-in-one 😲#TeamEurope | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/iq4DVbDmkF
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 30, 2023
Updated
A big matchplay moment on 5. Fleetwood hits the flagstick with his chip, then Spieth only just finds the fringe from a similar position. He complains that someone was taking photographs when they really shouldn’t have been. Team USA look rattled. Or at least Spieth does. JT isn’t having a bar of anyone’s nonsense, and rams home a birdie putt from the fringe. That in turn rattles McIlroy, who pulls weakly left from three feet. Europe were so close to a four-hole lead; now it’s just the two.
A catalogue of errors on 3. Aberg misses the green from the centre of the fairway, then Hovland fails to get up from the swale. Advantage USA, but then Scottie Scheffler makes exactly the same mistake from the bottom of the bank! Aberg chips up to three feet, Koepka blades his effort, and when Scheffler fails to make his long putt, Europe win the hole with bogey. Scheffler and Koepka have started 6-5-6. The coldest of starts, and they’re all over the place.
Thomas and Spieth stop the bleeding on the par-three 4th. Par earns them a half. Meanwhile the USA finally get on the board this morning, Homa aiming a dart with his approach into 2, Harman walking in the birdie putt. The Open champion looks like he means business this morning.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (4)
2UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (2)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (2)
Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele
Updated
Zach Johnson tells Sky that a “small portion” of his team have been suffering with an unspecified health issue. “Some guys have not been feeling the best … they responded very well to the antibiotics … it’s not an excuse, let me get that straight … Luke and his team played awesome.”
Some good news for Team USA: they find the 1st fairway at last. Hats off to Patrick Cantlay for that. Baby steps. Jon Rahm splits the fairway too, and the last match is off and out. Meanwhile up on 2, Ludvig Aberg chips up to three feet, and with the Americans out of position, Viktor Hovland tidies up for par and the win. What a start this is by Team Europe. It’s exactly what Team USA wanted, it’s what they needed. A response desperately required. Already.
3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (3)
2UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (2)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (1)
Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele
Updated
Team Homa/Harman get up and down from the front of the green at 1, and that’s the USA’s first par of the morning. Up on 3, JT gives Spieth half a chance of scrambling par, doing pretty well to chip up to eight feet, but Spieth’s putt is always missing on the right, and he wanders off looking extremely pensive. His approach handed that hole to Europe, and given the manner in which he struggled yesterday afternoon – his wedge into the water on 18 said it all - it’s hard to see him turning this round any time soon. He’s woefully out of sorts, and needs to find a solution quicksmart.
Jordan Spieth is a three-time major winner, but he’s struggling right now. From the centre of the 3rd fairway, he pulls his approach down a bank back-left of the green. Good luck from there. Tommy Fleetwood keeps up the pressure by sticking his second pin high. A very similar unforced mistake by Scottie Scheffler on 2, as well; Viktor Hovland lets him off the hook a bit by finding the thick greenside rough himself.
The third match begins like the other two: Team USA sending their opening tee shot into the deep rough down the right, Europe finding the short stuff. The visitors could do with hitting some fairways here, because the rough at Marco Simone is punitive to say the least.
There’s more muscling going on up on 2. JT does extremely well to find the fringe after Jordan Spieth’s drive ends up in the second cut down the left. Spieth makes up for his mistake by lagging close to secure par. All good, on a difficult hole … except Tommy Fleetwood, whose putter took some time to warm up yesterday, drains a straight 35-footer for birdie. Meanwhile back on 1, Brooks Koepka rolls America’s long par putt to four feet, only for Scottie Scheffler to pull the bogey putt wide left. The USA really wanted a fast start today. They haven’t had one.
2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (2)
1UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (1)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman
Scrub what I told you about the USA’s lie. Brooks Koepka is a fine physical specimen, yet even he can only advance the ball further up the rough. He leaves his partner Scottie Scheffler half-snookered behind a tree, and even though the reigning Players champion is able to punch the ball up on to the green, he can’t take a line anywhere near the flag. The US will have a long two-putt for bogey, while Europe are inside them sitting two.
A reminder of the format
For the benefit of folk who fancy getting up on the downswing this weekend but don’t always follow the greatest sport in the world, we usually cut and paste the following explainer. Hey, if it’s worth reading once, it’s worth reading a dozen times. Here we go ...
The Ryder Cup is a matchplay event. Each match is worth a point. There are 28 points available over the three days, so the first team to get to 14.5 points will win the Cup. Should the scores be tied at 14 points apiece, the USA will retain the trophy as current holders.
Match-play explained for those dipping their toe into the murky world of golf for the first time: In common-or-garden championship golf, such as the Masters or the Open, tournaments are scored using the stroke-play system. Whoever takes the fewest shots over all four rounds in a championship wins. All shots count and are added up for a cumulative total. So if, say, in next year’s Masters, Jon Rahm shoots 63-63-63-63 and Scottie Scheffler shoots 87-87-87-87, Rahmbo will have taken 252 strokes, and beaten the best player in the world by 96 shots. (Good luck if you bet large on this exact outcome.)
Anyway, in match play, each player or team wins a hole for every hole they better their opponents. So if Scottie takes five shots at the 1st, but Rahm needs only three, Rahm goes 1up. If Rahm wins the next hole too, he’s 2up. If the pair share the same number of shots on the 3rd, the hole is halved, and Rahm remains 2up. It doesn’t matter if Scheffler took 13 shots on her way to losing the 2nd, by the way; a bit like the unwritten rule of visits to wallet-sewer-interface-venue Las Vegas, what happens on each hole stays on each hole. There is no knock-on effect.
So let’s say Rahm wins the first nine holes of our make-believe match. With nine played, and nine remaining, he is 9up. Scottie can only tie at best; Rahm can’t lose. This is known as dormie. (And more specifically, in this slightly ludicrous example, as dormie nine.) If Scheffler wins the next nine, the game will end all square, and each team will get half a point to their overall total. But if Rahm wins the 10th, he’s 10up with eight holes to play. He has won 10&8. If the 10th hole is halved, Rahm would be 9up with eight to play. She’s won 9&8. Similarly Scheffler can be said to have lost 9&8. Europe would add a point to their overall total. I’ve probably made this sound way more complicated than it needs to be, but there it is anyway.
There will be three types of match: foursomes (teams of two players use one ball, taking alternate shots); fourballs (teams of two players play a ball each and take the best score, known as the better ball); and singles (this is when it gets quite wild and everyone across two continents starts with the shallow breathing and chest clutching). And these matches are arranged in a schedule like this:
Yesterday: four matches of morning foursomes; four matches of afternoon fourballs.
Today: four matches of morning foursomes; four matches of afternoon fourballs.
Tomorrow: 12 singles matches.
Spieth puts a good roll on his par putt, but it shaves the left lip. He can’t believe it didn’t drop. Two putts for Europe and that’s a fast start for Europe. Meanwhile Scottie Scheffler hoicks his opening tee shot into the rough down the right – the lie doesn’t look too bad at first sight – but Viktor Hovland cracks one down the middle. The second match is up and running.
1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (1)
Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka
JT wedges into the green. Just. Later in the day, his ball would surely topple back off the false front. But the morning dew ensures it sticks. Both teams will have putts from 20 feet or so, but Europe are sitting two and the US have already taken three. Back on the tee, there’s more bedlam as Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka get ready to rumble.
“Forever in our hearts.” It’s tifo time, as the Italian fans in the stand at the first tee unfurl a spectacular large flag depicting the great Severiano Ballesteros. A touching moment. There’s another smaller handmade banner: “Do it for Seve.” Up the hole, Europe try their best to follow orders. Jordan Spieth can only lay up from out of the rough, while Tommy Fleetwood sends his second into the heart of the green. Justin Thomas needs to get close with his chip if he’s to put any pressure on Rory’s putt.
“HÚH! HÚH! HÚH!” Luke Donald leads the masses in a thunderous clap, then the players emerge from the tunnel. Wild cheers from Fleetwood Mc – they make golfing fun, after all – and pantomime boos for Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. Friendly handshakes and smiles, though when the pleasantries are over, there’s a definite look of steely determination in JT’s eyes. Perhaps a little bit of apprehension in there, too, because the USA really need to hit their straps hard this morning. It shows in his opening drive, which disappears into the thick rough down the right. Advantage Europe? Yes, but only because Rory McIlroy’s tee shot, sent towards the rough down the left, somehow sits up nicely. A big break for the home side.
Updated
Preamble
Europe go into the second day of the 2023 Ryder Cup leading 6½-1½. They’ve only built such a lead on the opening day once before in tournament history, in 2004, and went on to win by a European record score of 18½-9½. The only time the USA have ever built such an opening-day lead, they went on to win 21-11 in 1975. So the predicament the Americans find themselves in isn’t unprecedented, but the omens don’t look good either. They’ve got the quality to fight their way out of this hole, of course … though Europe also have the quality to put more hurt on the holders. So much depends on this Saturday morning foursomes session, and here are the tee times for it (Europe first, all times BST).
6.35am: Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood v Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth
6.50am: Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg v Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka
7.05am: Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka v Max Homa and Brian Harman
7.20am: Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele
Once they’re out on the course, we’ll be about our business. It’s on!
