POSTED MISSING
No eye-popping Poulter but eye-watering mistakes as he and McIlroy are blown into Lake Michigan
XANDER SCHAUFFELE reckons Tiger Woods was fist-pumping on the couch as he sent an arrow straight through the target on Ian Poulter’s back.
Paul Casey said on the eve of the Ryder Cup the European talisman was the one that every American wanted to beat.
Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay didn’t just beat Poulter. They tore him to pieces and, for a spell on day one at Whistling Straits, humiliated him and his partner Rory McIlroy.
Poulter relishes the battle. Over almost two decades, he’s taken the fight to the United States and his celebrations have irked many in Stars and Stripes.
But there was no eye-popping here. Just eye-watering mistakes on show.
No thumping his hands against his chest. More using them to scratch his head and wonder how on earth he and McIlroy were being blown into Lake Michigan.
Poulter and his sloppy partner were five down after five holes.
He was hitting the rough, hitting it into bunkers and McIlroy was knifing them back out and into the scrub at the other side of the green during one calamitous section of the brutal beginning.
Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm may have put the first actual point on the board in the 43rd Ryder Cup.
But it was Schauffele and Cantlay who struck the first proper psychological blow for Steve Stricker’s team.
Their early annihilation of the two key faces within Europe’s team room drifted through the rest of the US troops and lifted them.
Poulter and McIlroy looked utterly shell-shocked through the demolition.
They staved off embarrassment by showing enough grit for the record books to show this game went to the 15th green.
However, it was well and truly over 10 holes and two hours before that.
And Schauffele knew of one fan who was back in the house cheering and clapping at the ferocity of the victory.
Woods had contacted the troops on the eve of the match.
Gave them some sound advice to take into the battle and he coupled it with his own skills and those of his Fed-Ex-Cup-winning partner Cantlay to brutalise Poulter and his team-mate.
Schauffele said: “We had a nice message from Tiger on Thursday night and, obviously, I’m not going to reveal what it said. But Pat and I knew and we referred to it a few times.
“We knew what we needed to do and we knew that he would be fistpumping from the couch.
“Whether he was on crutches or not, he was as fired up as anyone back at home. It’s nice to have his support.”
Cantlay also used the knowledge of the GOAT and he added: “There’s no better role model and no better leader.
“He’s just somebody that you can always learn from and I saw him last week at his home.
“I just picked his brain on the Ryder Cup and applied some of that.”
But Poulter was almost lost for words when he said: “They have played exceptionally good golf in foursomes.
“It’s not nice to get off to the start five-down through five holes and
it’s not easy to come back. They finished it off.”
As Poulter slumped back to the team room and sat out the afternoon, Schauffele and Cantlay were not finished.
Having destroyed him and McIlroy, the Yank duo surged back out with new partners in the shape of Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas.
But their morning was special because the pair aren’t just team-mates. They are best pals.
The Olympic champion and the Fed-Ex Cup hero were right at home on the sands at Whistling Straits and that’s probably not a shock given they had just returned from a holiday away in Napa with their wives. Their chemistry typifies the unity with this new-look American team and Cantlay said: “First and foremost, we’re really good friends. “Then obviously Xander is a great partner for anybody. I mean, he’s so solid, plays great and has one of the best attitudes out here. “It’s exactly what we wanted. We want those match-ups. I think I speak for Xander a little bit here, but that’s what it’s all about. “We were excited when we saw that pairing as all the pressure was on them. “They have seen it all and were expected to have a little veteran edge. “We’re really building some really positive memories and positive experiences and we’re going to use that later.”
And Schauffele added to the feelings of bond as he said: “I really think we find comfort in each other.
“Pat’s as calm as they come. He’s stoic and is not fazed by any noise.
“So he walked up on the first tee and struck that first tee shot, all of a sudden, all the nerves were gone.
“We have each other’s back. Pat and I don’t talk a whole lot, especially when we play.
“So he’ll walk ahead or I’ll walk ahead and we just kind of give each other looks and that’s enough to sort of build on momentum. “We are similar in that sense and I think that’s
very helpful.”