The 45th Ryder Cup kicked off Friday morning, with Team USA captain Keegan Bradley sending out some of his best. Unfortunately for the Americans, things looked far too similar to what happened in Rome two years ago.
Team Europe jumped out to a 3-0 start, and all three matches were not even close to being competitive.
Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas were sent out early to give the team a spark. Instead, they got crushed by Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, 4 & 3.
It was then Scottie Scheffler's turn to get embarrassed. He and playing partner Russell Henley were soundly defeated 5 & 3 by Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg.
The next match saw Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood easily defeat Collin Morikawa and Harris English, 5 & 4. The Americans salvaged a point in the morning session when Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele fended off a charge from Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre, 2 Up.
Nevertheless, the first session made Ryder Cup history.
It is the first time in the event's history that Team Europe has won three foursome matches with three or more holes to play, according to ESPN Stats & Research. It is also the first time the Europeans have won the first three matches played at a Ryder Cup on American soil.
Two years ago, Team USA dug an even deeper hole early. They lost all four foursome matches in the morning session. So, maybe winning the final match will give the team some life.
“If we're only going to win one point, it might as well be the anchor match to get some momentum going,” Schauffele said after Europe went ahead 3-1 in the opening session. “We need to get some points on the board in the afternoon.”
So far, that sentiment has not played out, though.
Captain Keegan sent out Scheffler once again, to play with JJ Spaun, the reigning U.S. Open champion. Through three holes of four-ball, they are 1-down to Rahm and Sepp Straka.
The other three four-ball matches are all square, but very early on in the round.
