Putting the difference as US draw first blood

Rose and Stenson fall victim to Reed and Spieth

The unbeaten European pairing from Gleneagles fell to the USA’s unbeaten duo to give the hosts their first win in a first-out Ryder Cup match since 1995, and the difference was on the greens.

Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson couldn’t pick up the pace of the dewy Hazeltine putting surfaces early on and didn’t manage to hole out a putt until the sixth hole, when Stenson made a testing four-footer for a half to stay two down.

Jordan Spieth had landed the first two blows with birdie putts at the second and third to give himself and Patrick Reed a lead they were not to relinquish.

However, it was the elder of the young Texans who carried the fight for the most part in a game that took an unacceptable four hours to play the 16 holes required and was conducted “on the clock” for almost the entire back nine.

“There wasn’t much in the match teeto-green. They made a few putts and we couldn’t buy one,” said Rose.

The US duo were three-up and threeunder through eight before their first mistake gave the European duo their first hole win, but Reed’s putt for a half at 10 after his partner put him in trouble off the tee to stay two-up was crucial.

Rose was given a bad time at the 12th after referee Andy McFee had instructed both teams to take no longer than 60 seconds for their shots, but no matter how long they took, the Europeans couldn’t find the line on their long putts.

The Englishman finally holed a 10footer – the first putt of any significant length they’d managed all morning – but it was for a half.

Despite Spieth’s waywardness off the tee after the turn, Reed carried his partner to the finish.

The star of the poor American effort last time at Gleneagles finished the Europeans off with a 16ft birdie putt at the 16th to put the first red on the scoreboard.

“In foursomes we make one mistake, one bogey, but we didn’t capitalise when we had chances,” said Rose. “We didn’t miss a shot, but we couldn’t buy a putt.”

Picture: Getty. Patrick Reed came to the fore in a match that was largely won and lost with the putter.