Most of the heroics were produced by European captain Luke Donald’s side.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – As the United States fell behind 3-0 before picking up its lone point in the morning foursomes session in the anchor match, U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley looked up at the sky and said, "we just had the President fly over in his Air Force One, so I've got a feeling things are going to turn here."
Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, arrived at Bethpage Black on Friday shortly before the afternoon four-balls session and we can neither confirm nor deny that he told Bradley to Make American Golf Great Again.
Bradley is going to have his work cut out this weekend because his team trails 5 ½ to 2 ½ after the first two sessions of the 45th Ryder Cup.
He did get one standout performance from one of his rookies as New York’s own Cameron Young put Justin Thomas on his back and carried the team to a 6-and-5 beatdown of Ludvig Aberg and Ryder Cup rookie Rasmus Hojgaard.
“I really just kind of sat back and watched the show,” Thomas said. “I tried to help when I could, but I'm just so happy for Cam but I'm proud of him. Playing in your first Ryder Cup is really hard, but playing in front of your home fans, I would imagine, is even harder. But he definitely played like the veteran today. It's been fun watching his game progress, and I'm glad I got to sit alongside the show today.”
European side shined for Luke Donald
But most of the other heroics were produced by European captain Luke Donald’s side. Under warm, bright skies, Jon Rahm went out first in his fourth straight Cup and alongside Austria’s Sepp Straka secured a point with a 3-and-2 win over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and J.J. Spaun, who made his Cup debut.
Rahm is 8-1-3 over his last 12 Ryder Cup matches, dating back to 2021. Scheffler, on the other hand, became the first reigning world No. 1 to lose both Friday Ryder Cup matches since Tiger Woods in 2002.
“It really just came down to me not holing enough putts,” said Scheffler, who had one of those days where he couldn’t buy a putt. “We put up a good fight at the end. The guys just really turned it on on the back nine.”
Bryson DeChambeau lost both matches
The U.S.’s other big gun, Bryson DeChambeau also suffered a winless day. After losing in the morning with Thomas, he paired with Ryder Cup rookie Ben Griffin, who acquitted himself well, including holing a 56-foot birdie putt at No. 7. But the English duo of Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose refused to go quietly. Rose responded to Griffin’s bomb by making his own long-range birdie putt to tie the hole and avoid falling 2 down. Fleetwood delivered three back-nine birdies to win Nos. 11 and tie the match and No. 14 to take the lead. Then it was the turn of the 45-year-old Rose, who remains tough as nails in Ryder Cups, to hole the winning putt and claim a 1-up win.
“I played good golf, just not good enough, and they made everything,” DeChambeau said. “Luck is on their side right now.”
Nothing lucky about how well Fleetwood, who had won five of the last six Ryder Cup matches, dating back to 2023, has played.
The final match was a back-and-forth affair between Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay. Burns birdied the first to give Team USA the early lead but Cantlay did most of the damage, especially on the back nine after the Americans fell 2 down. He delivered four back-nine birdies, tying the match with wins at Nos. 10, 12 and 13, sandwiched around a loss at No. 11. Cantlay lipped out from less than 3 feet at 14 to win the hole and take the lead. This was a hard-earned half point for each team, with Nos. 16 and 17 halved in birdies. Both Burns and McIlroy missed makeable putts for the win at 18 but it ended tied and a half point for each time.
The Europeans have won each of the last six Ryder Cups in which they had a lead at the end of Day 1. The only team to overcome a 5 ½ to 2 ½ (or worse) day one deficit to win the Ryder Cup was Team USA in 1999, which trailed 6-2 after the first two sessions. Bradley made the point that only 8 of the 28 points have been contested so far.
“It’s the first quarter,” he said. “We still have a long way to go.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler shut out, U.S. down three at Ryder Cup
Category: General Sports
