It’s Friday night at the Ryder Cup, which means we’re eight matches into this three-day, 28-match extravaganza. Europe opened up a 5.5 to 2.5 lead on Day 1, which means we’re assembling our writer’s roundtable to ask: Who gets credit?!
1. One day in, who’s the hero of this Ryder Cup? Here’s the catch: no repeat names.
Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): It’s the quiet one out front, whom no one is talking about: Jon Rahm. People forget that Rahm lost the first two matches of his Ryder Cup career, way back in Paris in 2018. He’s 8-1-3 since, with his only defeat to Scottie Scheffler at Whistling Straits singles. He’s now faced off against Scheffler six times in the last three Cups and has a winning record against… the best player since Tiger Woods? Rahm didn’t get the love he deserved in Rome, and I fear he may not be getting it again.
James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): I was not surprised by Rory McIlroy’s Ryder Cup brilliance on Friday. I was not surprised by Jon Rahm’s, either. But I’m not sure I properly accounted for Tommy Fleetwood. He’s playing the best golf of his life, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him play better in any setting than in his 36 holes on Friday, capped with a stuffed-to-3-foot approach on the 18th.
Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): It’s Rory McIlroy. He missed the match-winning putt on 18 on Friday evening but he did everything right until then, beating the doors off the Europeans in the morning and hanging in through a chippy crowd and a charging Patrick Cantlay down the stretch — including must-make birdie putts on 16 and 17. Plus, he’s serving as the blast shield of sorts, taking about as many hurtful heckles as the rest of his team combined. Rory has been open about how much this event means to him. Now he’s delivering.
Alan Bastable, executive editor (@alan_bastable): Surely Luke Donald deserves a nod. He was one (several?) step ahead of the Americans in Rome, and it appears he is again here on Long Island. I don’t know if he rises to “hero” status, but props also to Cameron Young, who hitched up with a seemingly out-of-form Justin Thomas in the afternoon and steamrolled Aberg and Hojgaard. Makes you wonder if Young — with his New York roots and all of his Bethpage experience — shoulda played twice today.
Looking ahead to future Ryder Cup venues
2. And one day in, who’s this Ryder Cup’s biggest dud? Again, no repeats.
Colgan: Uh, it’s Scottie Scheffler. The best player on either side went 0-2-0 on Friday, continuing a streak of surprisingly poor play in team matches. At one point he’d gone 18 straight holes of match play without a single birdie. On this golf course? In these conditions? To borrow from the local parlance, forget about it! Two weeks ago, Scheffler ended a streak of TWENTY ONE straight rounds under par. The Americans need way more out of their No. 1 if they’re going to stand any chance on the weekend. (Though I’ll admit I was encouraged by back-to-back birdies to close things out!)
Zak: James is right, but no repeats! So I’ll take his morning teammate, Russell Henley, who might be a Ryder Cup rookie, but is the No. 3 player in the world. He’s been one of the six best golfers on the planet for the last 12 months. And he was shook by the stage. He shriveled up and didn’t give Scheffler much at all to work with. The American horses need to be horses. They’re not right now.
Dethier: Bethpage Black as a match play golf course was a bit of a dud. I dunno, man — there was just zero fire to this place. It was wet, which is obviously outside the control of tournament organizers. But I didn’t feel like players faced much in the way of risk. The rough is cut so short and the greens are so soft that there’s very little punishment for a miss, which meant that there was a lot of dart-throwing and then a bunch of matches turned into putting contests. The Europeans made almost zero bogeys in foursomes! Credit to them. I just craved something more compelling.
Bastable: The first tee experience. Don’t get me wrong, the hulking stands were packed and lively Friday morning, but the horizontal structure — which extends from the back of the 18th green all the way to the first tee — lacks a certain intimacy and cohesiveness. When it came to chanting and revelry, one half of the stands didn’t seem to know what the other half was doing. I missed the Colosseum vibe created by wraparound stands we’ve seen at past Ryder Cups.
3. You’ve suddenly been called into the captain’s room. What are you telling Keegan Bradley and U.S. leadership?
Zak: I’m telling Keegan that it’s OK for players to not play three matches. Everyone got their feet wet Friday. They don’t have to play Saturday. Xander Schauffele should not be sitting. Harris English doesn’t have to go back out there Saturday. You’re in junkyard dog mode now. Every half point matters.
Colgan: I’ll be a little bit more specific: I’m telling Keegan that Collin Morikawa and Harris English can sit until you’re looking at a more competitive tournament. Those guys were totally overmatched on Friday.
Dethier: Don’t you even think for one second about sitting Cameron Young another session. Also check the bylaws to see if the captain can sub himself in.
Bastable: I don’t know. I’d guess I’d tell Keegan to say something to his team like, “Great moments are born from great opportunity. And that’s what you have here Saturday, boys. That’s what you’ve earned here. Eight matches. If we played ’em 10 times, they might win nine. But not tomorrow. Saturday, we play golf with ’em. Saturday, we stay with ’em, and we shut them down because we can! Saturday, we are the greatest match-play team in the world…”
4. Tell me one interesting thing you saw or heard on the course Friday.
Zak: A couple sports psychs for the American team will see the boys off Saturday morning, then fly down to Athens for the Alabama-Georgia game, as they both work with those football teams, too. Then they’ll fly back to Long Island Saturday night to help get the boys ready for Sunday Singles. That’s one helluva weekend.
Colgan: I witnessed the most subdued Bryson DeChambeau I’ve seen in a big-time golf setting in two years! Of course, he was still Bryson, but I was surprised to see how little time he spent playing into the crowd. I think we need to see more of the Showman if we’re hoping this thing is close on Sunday.
Dethier: Rory got by far the most grief of any player — fans were chanting “F— you, Rory!” pre-7 a.m. — but by the end of the afternoon seemed to draw strength from it. We can study strokes-gained post-bird-flip but he didn’t miss a shot down the stretch.
Bastable: The military sniper in the stands behind 18 green dropped my jaw. The sharpshooter was part of Trump’s security team, but still, seeing him perched up there with a rifle propped on a tripod was not something I expected to see so close to the action.
