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| Europe had a hero partnership in Fleetwood and Molinari as they score 2 of Europe's 5 points. |
Hey, all I know yesterday I wrote a preview on the Ryder Cup well all day today if you were listening to the radio you would have heard what was going on in the sports bulletins. Well here's today's action rounded up in a day of two halves. Today's action was two different formats four-ball and foursomes. For a simple explanation, the format is when both players on the same team play with their own golf balls, and the lowest scorer out of the pair has the best score out of that hole, and if they score less than their opponents lowest score, they win the hole. Foursomes are very different. Both teams use one golf ball, and they take it in turns to play their shots. So for example, if Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia play together McIlroy will take the tee shot then Garcia will take the next shot for the rest of the hole. They can change the order if it needs a change of pace or style of golf.
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| A frightening sight at the 1st tee. |
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| Tommy Fleetwood celebrates winning a hole for Europe. |
The first match of the Cup was Justin Rose and John Rahm representing Europe vs 2 times US Open and 1 time PGA Champion Brooks Koepka and USA rookie Tony Finau. The second match of the morning was Rory McIlroy and Thorbjorn Olesen for Europe vs Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler they would tee off 10 minutes later. Game 3 was between Paul Casey and rookie Tyrell Hatton vs Jordan Speith and Justin Thomas. The last match of the session was Open champion Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood vs Masters Champion Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods.
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| Tony Finau playing a dangerous second shot |
It was a shaky start for Finau as he started it off and nearly sent his tee shot into the lake. The rough slowed it down just enough to stop it falling in. Rose and Rahm got off to a flyer with a birdie to take the first hole win for Europe. Then at the same hole later on Speith almost scored an eagle by spinning his golf ball towards the hole but it went around the edge and had to settle for a birdie. Tiger then showed his tournament-winning form sending his tee shot to the second hole and landing it 8 feet from the hole. Finau later repaid his mistakes with an eagle chip on the 6th hole. However, his tee shot on the next hole went out of bounds. Jordan Speith was having a monster game when he had a lousy year in putting on the PGATour the first 5 holes he got 3 birdies. As all matches finished the first 9, it felt like the matches were very close, and anything could happen.
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| Agony for Rose as his second on the last hole ends up in the water. |
The first match was starting to go America's way after Finau chipped in from the rough on the 11th. Justin Rose on the 12th hole chipped in a birdie and showed off why he was worth 10 million dollars. Paul Casey was producing a performance that gave the rest of the European team hope with 4 birdies in a row. his playing partner Tyrell Hatton showed off his confidence by pitching his 2nd shot on the 13th to with 6 feet of the hole. Tony Finau produced the shot of the session when his tee shot hit the banks of the lake around the 16th hole, and the ricochet meant it landed near the flag. The first point went to the US courtesy of Johnson and Fowler winning their match at 4 and 2. All the questions for Europe at the time was should Bjorn send McIlroy out in the afternoon. Then came the big surprise Rose with his second shot on the 18th had to shoot at the flag because Rahm couldn't make the green in 2 overshot it and it went in the lake at the back of the green. That was the shot that cost them defeat at 1 up. Casey and Hatton lost their match 1 up to make it 3-0
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| Two major Champions in Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed. |
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| Johnson and Fowler feeling pleased with themselves. |
However, there was hope for Europe as Fleetwood and Molinari won their match with two putts for the win with one needed and made it 3-1 to the USA. This kickstarted the Foursomes session. The first match for the session was Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson vs Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. Match two was 2012 hero Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy vs Webb Simpson and former Masters Champion Bubba Watson. Match 3 was Sergio Garcia and rookie Alex Noren vs Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau. The last game was Molinari and Fleetwood vs Speith and Thomas.
The USA was starting to have putting issues as they were missing chances to half the holes. The big headline early on was Rory birdieing the 6th hole which took Europe from 2 down to 1 down and was the start of a snowball that couldn't be stopped. One of the best performances was Sergio Garcia who was a controversial wildcard pick, but he was silencing the critics that said he shouldn't have been in the squad. He led his match to a 7 hole lead after 9 holes. Dustin Johnson tried to create a comeback in the first match, but the putting wasn't there when he needed it. Then came the shot of the day from McIlroy after Poulter's tee shot left him with a downhill lie second shot on the banks of a pond on the 13th and he produced a magnificent shot to within 25 feet of the hole, Poulter then delivered with a birdie.
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| Garcia paying back the captain in being a wildcard. |
The first point went to Stenson and Rose as they won their match 3 and 2. Poulter and McIlroy won their game 4 and 2 to level the score. Mickelson tried creating a comeback of his own but struggled, and Garcia and Noren won 5 and 4. Then Molinari and Fleetwood finished off the day with the same score and made it Europe 5 USA 3. This was the first sweep since 1989 and the first-ever sweep in the foursomes in Europe's history
Tomorrow its the same format as today and now Europe will try and build on the afternoon's performance meanwhile the USA needs to bounce back from the disaster that happened. The captains announced the pairings ahead of the four-balls, with Garcia and McIlroy going out first against Koepka and Finau. The second match is the unlucky pairing of Casey and Hatton vs Johnson and Fowler. The third match is Molinari and Fleetwood vs Woods and Reed. The last game is Poulter and Rahm vs Thomas and Speith.
I'll be back with the round-up of Saturday's matches.
KRO Mark
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