Jon Rahm threw the team on his back in the final part of the first day of the 2023 Ryder Cup where Europe once again dealt a hard blow to the United States (6.5-1.5). Although the afternoon session with the four fourballs started more positively for the Americans, the locals, with the ‘Lion of Barrika’ in the lead, managed to further increase the advantage.
With a superlative shot on the 16th hole and a decisive putt on the 18th, two eagles that made the afternoon bitter for the U.S. team, Rahm tied the score against the pair formed by Scotti Scheffler, world number one, and Brooks Koepka to save half a point.
After a discreet start in the afternoon shift and in which he gave the lead to his partner, the Danish debutant Nicolai Hojgaard, Rahm went into a trance and threw Europe on his back, as usual. The ‘Lion of Barrika’, somewhat misguided at the start of the fourballs after having been the winner of the first European point in the morning foursomes, woke up at the moment when the team captained by Luke Donald needed him the most.
Because just when the United States was pressing, just when it seemed that it had recovered from the painful defeat in the first round and was going to cut that point that could ultimately be the difference, the best version of ‘Rahmbo’ appeared to stop the American insurrection and rescue a draw for the Old Continent.
All with the epic style that usually accompanies him. With a magical approach on the 16th hole he tied the match with two holes to go against Scotti Scheffler and Brooks Koepka. An eagle that drove crazy the Marco Simone where this Ryder Cup is held. He could not finish, however, on the next hole and missed a clear opportunity that frustrated him, but of course did not knock him down.
Because Rahm grows in difficult moments and a Ryder is not the stage to hide. With all the Marco Simone pending his stroke, ‘Rahmbo’ initialed another eagle that seemed, for a moment, or believe. The noise of the public embraced the reaction of a Rahm who, once again, pointed the way for Europe to victory in a day to remember.
Half a point that, added to the draws of Norway’s Viktor Hovland and England’s Tyrrel Hatton against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and England’s Justin Rose against Max Homa and Wyndham Clark; as well as the victory of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, made up the 6 and a half points that certified the maintenance of the transcendental advantage harvested in the foursomes.
The only successful pairing of the team captained by Luke Donald was that of Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who ran over the team of Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele after a display by Fitzpatrick, who was the best ball five holes in a row, from the second to the sixth.
McIlroy sealed the sixth in a row and took a six-point lead that Morikawa reduced on the 11th and 12th holes, giving a little hope that McIlroy himself extinguished on the 15th, sentencing the match with a 5&3.
In the first match of the afternoon shift, the duel between Norway’s Viktor Hovland and England’s Tyrrel Hatton against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth reigned equality. It was an exchange of strokes in which each team won four holes.
The Europeans won on 1, 7, 14 and 16, while the Americans did the same on 4, 6, 12 and 13. Hovland was decisive with the last shot on the 17th hole that certified the tie, but it was Hatton who put the team on his back by winning three holes.
The last match to finish was the one between the Scotsman Robert MacIntyre and the Englishman Justin Rose against Max Homa and Wyndham Clark with another tie thanks to the thrilling finish by Rose when he won the last two holes.
Europe, led by Jon Rahm, remains undefeated after an exciting day that puts them five points ahead. This Saturday, same format, first the four fouursomes in the morning and then the fourballs in the afternoon.
A stunning start
The European players not only won the four matches of the morning session, but they also did it in a stunning way and without the need for any match to reach the 18th hole. In fact, two of them finished on the 15th (4&3) and two on the 17th (2&1). It is the first time in the history of the tournament that Europe finishes the first round with a favorable 4-0.
The first point came from Rahm and Hatton. They almost swept away the American duo of Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns right from the start. The triumph of Rahm, former world number one and current number 3, and Hatton (n.31), in the foursomes modality, was so unquestionable that Scheffler, currently at the top of the ranking, and Burns gave up by a resounding score that the match ended on the 15th hole, as the advantage of the Europeans was already 4 holes.
The Europeans won holes 3, 5, 7, 11 and 12, and only conceded on 6. Rahm excelled on a couple of occasions with two masterful shots. On the 7th he almost got a hole in one and on the 10th he gave away an exceptional shot in what was supposed to be an approach.
The novel Norwegian pair, with the Norwegian Viktor Hovland and the young Swedish debutant Ludving Aberg did not disappoint. They also overwhelmed their rivals, the also debutants but older Brian Harman, winner of this year’s British Open, and Max Homa. And they made it 2-0.
The Nordic players also won convincingly, by 4&3, so that the match was also over after the 15th hole. The other two points came from the pairs Shane Lowry/Sepp Straka and Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood. They defeated, respectively, the American duos Rickie Fowler/Collin Morikawa and Xander Scahuffele/Patrick Cantlay, both by 2&1.
No doubt the preparation of the Marco Simone course, with narrower fairways than usual in the PGA, and high grass if you go fairway, have had their effect on the European side.
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