U.S. in big hole despite late point at Ryder Cup

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Another rout looked to be on at the 45th Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black -- and again the Americans were on the wrong side of it.

The U.S. team was on the verge of falling behind the Europeans 4-0 after the opening session of foursomes (alternate-shot) matches for the second straight time.

However, after squandering a three-hole lead, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay held on for a 2-up victory by winning the last two holes in the final match against Scotland's Robert MacIntyre and Norway's Viktor Hovland to salvage a point for the home team.

"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."

The Americans looked to be in serious trouble after they dropped the first three matches of the session -- and none was close. According to ESPN Research, it marked the first time in Europe's Ryder Cup history that it won three foursomes matches with three or more holes to play in a single session, and it was the first time Europe took each of the first three matches played in a Ryder Cup contested on American soil.

It was all too familiar for the American golfers who competed in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome. The Europeans blitzed the U.S. team 4-0 in the Friday morning foursomes en route to a 16½-11½ victory, their 10th victory in the past 14 matches.

The teams were back on the course Friday afternoon for four four-ball (best-ball) matches. The odds are stacked against the Americans in staging a comeback. Teams that won at least three points in the first session have a 7-1 record in the Ryder Cup since 1991.

The host team won the previous five Ryder Cups, but U.S. fans didn't have much to cheer about on Long Island on Friday.

Cantlay and Schauffele were the lone bright spots for the Americans. They were 3 up after 11 holes, but then the Europeans won three of the next four to tie the match. Hovland had birdie putts of 6½ feet on Nos. 12 and 13, and then he made a 6-footer to save par on No. 15 after Cantlay missed.

On the par-3 17th, MacIntyre hit his tee shot into a greenside bunker, and the Europeans couldn't get up and down to save par. Schauffele's tee shot found the right side of the green, and a two-putt from 20½ feet gave them a 1-up lead.

U.S. team captain Keegan Bradley sent out LIV Golf captain Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas first, hoping they'd give the home team a spark. DeChambeau did on the opening hole, nearly driving the green with a 344-yard tee shot to set up an easy birdie and a quick lead.

But DeChambeau and Thomas proved to be no match for the European duo of Spain's Jon Rahm and England's Tyrrell Hatton, which made five birdies after the sixth hole to claim a 4-and-3 victory.

It wasn't much of a surprise that Masters champion Rory McIlroy and Tour Championship winner Tommy Fleetwood had little difficulty in putting away Harris English and Collin Morikawa in a 5-and-4 victory for Europe's second point.

Rahm and Fleetwood both improved to 5-0 in foursomes at the Ryder Cup, which is tied for the third-longest streak to start a career by a European player.

"Foursomes is a very tough format," Fleetwood said. "It's Friday morning of the Ryder Cup. I think we talk about fast starts a lot. I think Luke [Donald] has always drilled that into us since being captain, and that's what you want to do. That's the ideal. So far, so good."

What was stunning for the Americans, however, was that world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley didn't put up much of a fight against Sweden's Ludvig Åberg and England's Matt Fitzpatrick, who picked up a 5-and-3 victory.

"I felt like Russ and I did some good things," Scheffler said. "We just didn't hole enough putts early. We had some chances. I think the putts just didn't fall. But overall, the guys we played, they played a really good round, and [we'll] go back out this afternoon and see what we can do."

Scheffler has now dropped his past three foursomes matches in the Ryder Cup -- and he and his partner trailed by at least four holes in each of them.

Scheffler isn't the only top golfer to struggle in alternate-shot matches. According to Elias Sports Bureau, world No. 1s are no 10-11-1 in foursomes.