With a Comedy of Errors (and Possibly Illness), the U.S. Was Embarrassed Friday at the Ryder Cup
ROME — The U.S. Ryder Cup team folded like a cheap suit in the morning foursomes and tempted its fans with thoughts of a comeback in the afternoon fourballs, before succumbing yet again to a European team that could do no wrong in Day 1 at the 44th Ryder Cup.
Marco Simone, sitting on the outskirts of Rome, turned into the Colosseum on Friday and European captain Luke Donald’s charges were like modern gladiators, slaying the American 12 with no mercy.
A 4–0 foursomes bludgeoning in the morning was followed by a 2½ to 1½ beatdown in fourballs, where the Americans tied three times but didn't win a single match. The end result sees Europe with a potentially insurmountable lead of 6½ to 1½.
No matter how good the food tastes in Rome, dinner has to taste bitter to an American team that looked unsure of themselves off the tee, from the fairway and on the greens for most of Friday.
It was a trifecta of errors, mistakes and mishaps of epic proportion and returns the U.S. back to a position they found themselves in at the 2018 Ryder Cup in France, when Europe went 4–0 in the Friday afternoon foursomes and the U.S. lost 17½ to 10½.
In France, the first day’s deficit was only two points, with Europe leading 5–3, but the Saturday sessions again went Europe’s way and the 10 to 6 lead was insurmountable after the Saturday session.
Friday, over the 64 holes in the morning session, the United States never led one match while the Europeans led for a total 56 holes in a morning that the Americans would love to forget but can’t.
They were embarrassed.
After the Europeans wrote history while going undefeated Friday morning and changing its magic number in the afternoon to 8 to win back the Ryder Cup, what does U.S. captain Zach Johnson do?
He now knows that the idea of putting friends Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler together was a bad idea. The world No. 1 showed why he ranked 151st in strokes-gained putting this season on the PGA Tour when he had a chance to square the match on the par-4 4th hole and missed an eight-footer straight up the hill.
Burns looked every part of a rookie as he hit wayward shots and never made a putt of any consequence—though it’s possible that he was ill during the morning session along with others.
Johnson disclosed in his end-of-day press conference that an unknown illness is going through the U.S. team.
“We have got some congestion and some just signs of things that are unfortunate,” Johnson said. “It's one of those where sometimes the energy is probably a little low, but the ability and desire to go out and play is still there. That's what we are weighing. Every one of them still wants to play every match, which is encouraging.”
When Justin Thomas made a birdie putt on the 6th hole in the afternoon fourballs, it was the first time on Friday that the U.S. led in a match. It took 79 holes and that lead was lost on the next hole.
The 4–0 result on Friday morning has been called blue-washing by some, while others look at it as a disaster the U.S. team can’t recover from. But Johnson thinks otherwise.
Is he delusional or overwhelmed by a belief in his players?
“Every one of them is feisty. Every one of them is hungry," Johnson said. "Every one of them plays golf for the right reasons in the Ryder Cup.”
Saturday will tell the tale but even with a successful day, the Americans will likely still be behind. They can only hope to be within reach.