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The Euros dominated the opening match at Bethpage, setting the tone for a tough afternoon foursomes session for the U.S. team.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — As Tyrrell Hatton studied a birdie putt on the 12th green, the natives at Bethpage Black began to get restless. "Let's go already!" someone shouted. "Delay of game!" bellowed another fan. Then Hatton waved his putter over the golf ball to swat away a bug and stepped away, causing a chorus of boos reminiscent of when the Indiana Pacers take the court at Madison Square Garden.

It had to be the loudest Hatton has ever been jeered on a golf course. It also didn't matter.

Whether those VR headsets European captain Luke Donald gave his team had prepared Hatton for this exact situation, the 33-year-old Brit was ready. Hatton settled back over his ball and buried the putt to take command of the opening Friday morning foursome match in what would set the tone for a disastrous start for the Americans.

A couple hours earlier, things seemed much different. Bryson DeChambeau hit the Americans’ opening tee shot, a bomb up near the first green that led to a birdie putt by DeChambeau moments later and a quick dose of red on the leaderboard.

As promised, the LIV star and the U.S. team’s biggest persona had brought a "tsunami" of noise to New York. And captain Keegan Bradley hoped putting his biggest hitter out first would land a quick knockout punch. Instead, it was a quick defeat for DeChambeau and teammate Justin Thomas were carted off the 15th green after taking a beating from Hatton and Jon Rahm.

"Well, we were aware it was going to be a tough day. Two of their better favorites up there, two of the crowd favorites," Rahm said after. "We knew the crowd was going to be loud, and well, we are going to need our best. And even though we didn't have our best start during the first seven holes, we battled, we stayed in it and from then on we started hitting good shots and getting really positive vibes."

Carl Recine

With the 4-and-3 win, Rahm and Hatton improved to a perfect 4-0 record together in the Ryder Cup. Meanwhile, DeChambeau and Thomas lost in their first time paired in the event.

Early on, it looked like their maiden partnership might work. The duo held that 1-up lead and looked in position to extend when Hatton hooked a tee shot left on No. 6. "Over here, Jon," one fan yelled. "It's near the sh--er!" Rahm found his ball in a terrible lie, but hit a brilliant recovery shot leading to a halved hole.

As the teams left the green, U.S. assistant captain Gary Woodland got on a walkie-talkie and said JT and Bryson were ready for their sandwich. The two got their order shortly after, but they also got a burst from Team Europe. On No. 7, it once again looked like the Americans had the upperhand after Rahm's tee shot wound up in the trees to the right, resting against a stick.

With DeChambeau watching like a hawk, Hatton did his best to remove debris surrounding the ball, but opted to leave the stick there. He announced that the ball had oscillated, but not moved. Then he proceeded to hit a remarkable punch out onto the green to set up a winning par as Europe tied the match. A nice Hatton tee shot on the par-3 eighth and a converted birdie putt by Rahm gave Europe a lead it wouldn't relinquish and quieted a mostly American crowd that had been expecting DeChambeau to deliver most of the scoring fireworks.

"Obviously the tee shot on 6 wasn't great, but Jon hit an amazing recovery shot, and I don't think anyone thought that we'd be putting second," Hatton said. "And then, yeah, I mean, the second shot into 7 is a little bit of a hit-and-hope. Thankfully it kind of went straight. We're fortunate to have a clean sort of line. Just hope the stick wouldn't affect it too much."

For captain Bradley, he was left to hope that one match wouldn't affect his team's chances too much. And that a little encouragement from Michael Jordan would help after Thomas' six-foot par attempt on 15 lipped out to end the proceedings.

"Let's go, JT," Jordan said to his disappointed buddy as he climbed on the back of a golf cart. "Hang in there, dog."

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Category: General Sports

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