THEY COULDN’T HOLD A CANDLE TO US
Tommy blows away Yanks then makes a dash to son’s big bash
EUROPEAN hero Tommy Fleetwood rushed from Le Golf National to celebrate his son’s first birthday after painting the Ryder Cup scoreboard baby blue.
Fleetwood made a dream debut, joining
Francesco Molinari to deliver two points out of two as the home side seized the initiative to open a 5-3 lead on a dramatic first day.
The duo were saviours in the morning fourball session, salvaging a win over Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed.
That late rally in the anchor match sparked a vital momentum shift as Europe came back out to blitz the afternoon foursomes 4-0 for the first time in the team’s history.
Again Fleetwood and Molinari played their part, smashing Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 5&4.
But the Englishman didn’t linger long to savour the success as he grabbed his chance to spend time with his birthday son Frankie before rejoining the team to prepare for today’s rounds.
European captain Bjorn said: “Tommy is on his way back to the hotel to spend an hour or so with his son and that will be nice for him. That’s a pretty special thing for him and for his wife Clare.
“That’s been agreed a long way in advance that that was going to happen.
“He and Francesco played great. You’ve got a former French Open champion and The Open champion and they just love playing together.
“They had a very good day and it’s nice to see for Francesco who showed why he’s a force in the world of golf.”
America will go again this morning with the same fourball pairings that served them well yesterday but Bjorn has shuffled his pack.
Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia will lead the home side out against Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.
Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton team up again to take on Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler while the Molinari/ Fleetwood dream team has a rematch with Woods and Reed.
The final game will see Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm go up against Thomas and Spieth.