THE STANDS are ready for the fans. Let’s play some golf in Haven Wisconsin. #U-S-A _____________________________________________________________________
The Gog Blog by Rory Spears, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy. or connect on Facebook or LinkedIn.
(Reporting from Haven Wisconsin-at the Ryder Cup).
DAY 1 of the 43rd Ryder Cup Matches has started off well for Team USA.
TEAM USA X and TEAM EUROPE X is the score with 8 matches in the books.
The atmosphere was buzzing early. It was somewhere around 4 Am the stands behind the first tee box were full.
Because of travel restrictions, most of the fans where dressed in Red-White and Blue colors. The crowd support was very pro Team USA. Alternate shot was the morning format.
MATCH 1 Saw the Europeans jump out to a 1-0 lead when Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm defeated Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 3&1. Spieth hit a cliffside shot on 17 that will be shown for years, but it wasn’t enough. Thomas had several looks inside of 10 feet and could not make a putt. Rahm made several clutch putts to seal the win.
MATCH 2 Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa defeated Paul Casey and Viktor Hovland 3&2. Both Johnson and Morikawa took turns stepping up, but the Americans were in control most of the way, and Casey and Hovland did not seem to mix well as a team.
MATCH 3 Brooks Koepka and his college teammate Daniel Berger beat Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick 2&1. Fitzpatrick played much better than he did at Hazeltine in 2016. But Koepka showed no ill effects of his injury from a weeks ago and led the USA team to a hard fought win. Westwood missed a few key putts on the back nine.
MATCH 4 Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele trounced Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter 5&3. This match was over almost before it started, with Cantlay and Schauffele winning the first 5 holes. McIlroy and poulter had a brief push-back on the back nine cutting the deficit to 3 Dn, but could not comeback when the lead went back to 4 Up for the Cantlay and Schauffele.
CLICK HERE to hear end of Day 1 interviews with Scottie Sheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, and captains Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker.
THE AFTERNOON FOUR BALLS SESSION
Even with a successful 3-1 start in the morning. Team USA captain Steve Stricker broke up some of his better morning pairings, that left both fans and media surprised. But things broke Team USA’s way as the afternoon continued on.
MATCH 5 Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele defeated Bernd Wiesberger and Paul Casey 2&1. Johnson was solid again, and with a new partner after playing with Morikawa in the am. Casey was the one 40+ year old veteran who played both sessions on Friday, and it showed in the afternoon. Johnson and Schauffele were never really threatened in this match.
MATCH 6 Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau settled for a half point with Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton, when Hatton converted a birdie on the 18th hole to give the Euro’s a 1/2, when the U.S. side was ready to take the first matches in the afternoon. DeChambeau almost drove the sixth green, and made eagle on a par 5. But it was Scheffler who made most of the contributions. Hatton missed several key putts and almost busted his putter over his knee.
MATCH 7 Tony Finau and Harris English took down Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowery 4&3. Finau was solid making several key putts, while English held his own and closed out the match with a par on 15. McIlroy had an awful day never seeing neither of his two matches hit the 16th tee. This match finished before Match 6, and gave the USA a 5-1 lead at that point.
MATCH 8 saw European’s Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland hang on to get the European’s a 1/2. But after losing a 3 Up lead on the front side, the Euro’s were in the survival mode. Justin Thomas made eagle on 16 to tie up the match.
Making the Day 1 score 6-2 USA. The morning pairings are about the same as Friday, with a few changes. More details in the morning.