Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Scheffler nearly chipped in to win the first hole at the Ryder Cup. During the following pairing, Hovland showed the world how it’s done.
It’s finally here. The 44th Ryder Cup kicked off Friday morning at Marco Simone Golf Club just outside of Rome, Italy.
The Americans nearly got the exact start they needed. Instead, it was Viktor Hovland that sent the first shockwave, and in epic fashion.
Team USA is looking to win on European soil for the first time since 1993. Hence captain Zach Johnson leading with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the opening foursome match. He is paired with Ryder Cup rookie Sam Burns.
After Burns’ approach shot on the par-4 1st came up short of the green, Scheffler nearly chipped in for birdie, hitting the cup. That would have been a nice momentum builder for the Americans.
They ultimately halved the hole with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
The next group consisted of the world’s hottest player in Hovland. The Norwegian showed Scheffler how it’s done with an epic chip-in for birdie to go 1-UP.
When the ball sank, Hovland gave fans an unbelievable fist pump that even Tiger Woods would be proud of.
That gave Hovland and Ludvig Aberg an early lead and sent reverberations throughout the golf course. Even Shane Lowry, waiting at the first tee box, went bananas pumping up the European crowd.
The very next hole saw Hovland then sink a long birdie putt to go 2-UP already.
A few minutes prior, Rahm sank a lengthy birdie putt to go 1-UP in their match.
It’s a great start for the Europeans and not at all what Captain Johnson had in mind. Momentum is a fickle thing and the Americans need to stem the tide and get it back onto their side.
Otherwise, this foursome session could go very wrong, very quickly.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor and site manager for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms.
