Justin Rose celebrates on the 18th green during Friday afternoon fourball matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup. | Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Team Europe overpowered the Americans on Friday, as the home team holds a commanding lead after day one at the Ryder Cup.
The European Ryder Cup team dominated Team USA on Friday, as the home team holds a commanding 6.5-to-1.5 lead after day one.
Team Europe overpowered the Americans so badly that, for the first time in history, the U.S. failed to win a single match in a day at the Ryder Cup.
“Unbelievable start,” said European captain Luke Donald. “But we want it to be a historic week, so the job is certainly not done. We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we’ll be back tomorrow morning with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning’s session.”
The Europeans won the day in historic fashion, while Team USA lost embarrassingly.
But let us look at the specific winners and losers from day one:
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Luke Donald smiles at a press conference following Day One at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Winners:
Luke Donald
The European captain pressed all of the right buttons. He received some scrutiny for electing to play alternate shot first, but the move paid off. His squad won 4-to-0 in the opening session and have not looked back.
Donald knows his team well too. All of the duos he made worked out for the best, as nobody lost a match for Team Europe.
Jon Rahm
The Spaniard had three hole outs on Friday, none more significant than his second shot on the par-4 16th in afternoon four-ball. His eagle there tied the match against Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
After Scheffler birdied 17 to regain the lead, Rahm holed a beautiful eagle putt on 18 to halve the match.
Rahm finished the day with a 1-0-1 record, as he and Tyrell Hatton dominated Scheffler and Sam Burns in alternate shot, 4 & 2.
Viktor Hovland
The 25-year-old Norwegian kicked the Ryder Cup off with a chip-in birdie, sending the entire continent of Europe into jubilation.
Hovland dominated his morning match with Ludvig Åberg, defeating Max Homa and Brian Harman 4 & 2.
The 2023 FedEx Cup champion then holed a massive 26-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to halve the match against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth in afternoon four-ball.
Hovland is a superstar.
Marco Simone Golf Club
The host golf course for the 2023 Ryder Cup is nothing short of fantastic.
It is the perfect match-play venue, featuring drivable par-4s and scorable par-5s. The par-3s are also challenging, and it looks like the spectators have excellent sightlines on most holes.
The course may be the biggest winner of all.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
A general view of the 16th hole at Marco Simone Golf Club on Sept. 29, 2023.
Matthew Fitzpatrick
The 2022 U.S. Open Champion sat out the morning session but came out in the afternoon on fire.
Playing alongside Rory McIlroy—the only player to go 2-0-0 on Friday—Fitzpatrick made four birdies and an eagle over the first six holes.
He and McIlroy were 6-up through seven holes, as their match against Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa was all but over by the time this group made the turn.
Fitzpatrick looked great, especially his putter.
Losers:
Zach Johnson
Arguably the biggest loser was the American captain, at least fans certainly thought so.
What the hell was Captain Zach Johnson thinking? Sending out four Ryder Cup rookies in morning foursomes, with two of them paired together, while leaving four major champions on the bench, was a questionable move.
It backfired.
The U.S. found themselves in a 4-to-0 hole after the first session.
Then, in the afternoon, he put rookies Wyndham Clark and Max Homa together against Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre. Homa and Clark choked down the stretch and halved the match.
Sending Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth out together was a good move, but those two should have played in the morning, too.
It was a disastrous opening day for Johnson.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Zach Johnson speaks to the media following the first day at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Ryder Cup Broadcast Commercials
How many freaking commercials did we see during the telecast?
Too many.
I saw more of Hannah Davis and Derek Jeter than Max Homa and Robert MacIntyre. I also cannot get that Burger King song out of my head.
The Ryder Cup is obviously not a regular PGA Tour event either—only eight balls are in play. Show us every shot live. The PGA of America and DP World Tour have lucrative television deals for this event, so plan the commercials better, especially in the early morning hours.
We missed too many shots.
Wyndham Clark
Poor Wyndham Clark, who played well for 16 holes today and then stumbled down the stretch.
He had a golden opportunity to give the Americans their first victory of the Ryder Cup, as he and Homa held a 2-up lead with two holes to play.
But after bogeying the par-3 17th, he and Homa headed to the 18th with a 1-up lead. After finding the fairway, Clark made a mess of things, thus leading Justin Rose to sink a birdie putt to win the hole and halve the match.
Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut earlier in the week when Clark gave Europe bulletin board material.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Jordan Spieth plays a shot during his Friday fourball match at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Jordan Spieth
Thank goodness the Ryder Cup is match play, or else Jordan Spieth would not have broken 80 on Friday.
He could not find a fairway to save his life in the afternoon four-balls, and if it were not for Justin Thomas’ heroics, they likely would have lost the match.
Nevertheless, Spieth’s wayward tee shots played a massive role in squandering an opportunity. He and Thomas went from 2-up through 13 to halving their match against Hovland and Hatton.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
