Europe rebounds from morning sweep
Americans dominate early but are quickly reminded no lead is safe at this event
CHASKA, MINN.— Even with the first opening-session sweep in four decades, the Americans were reminded anew Friday that no lead is safe in the Ryder Cup.
Not after one session. Not after one day. And based on the last Ryder Cup on American soil, not until it’s over.
Europe battled back from a 4-0 def- icit behind its best tandem, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, and capped off a long and rowdy day at Hazeltine when its best player, Rory McIlroy, holed a 20-foot eagle putt and then mocked the crowd by taking a bow.
The American celebration turned into a consolation.
They had a 5-3 lead, the margin after the first day at Medinah four years ago that ended in another European victory. They lost a chance to really put Europe in a hole.
“It’s frustrating not to come out a little bit more ahead,” U.S. captain Davis Love III said.
Love could not have scripted a better start — a symbolic one, too. To honour Arnold Palmer, who died Sunday night, Ryder Cup officials placed on the first tee Palmer’s golf bag from when he was captain of the 1975 Ryder Cup team. Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed then set the tone with a 3-and-2 foursomes victory over Stenson and Rose, and the Americans delivered the first sweep of the opening session since that1975 team at Laurel Valley.
Phil Mickelson, feeling more pressure than usual because of his influence on changes and on this team, also produced big shots. His wedge into five feet that Rickie Fowler converted was key in the Americans winning three straight holes for a 1-up victory over McIlroy and Andy Sullivan.
Beaten for the first time, Rose and Stenson went right back out against Spieth and Reed and handed the American duo its first Ryder Cup loss.
The lone American point in the afternoon came from Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka, who had no trouble against Kaymer and Danny Willett.