Europeans start fast, lead Americans after first day of Ryder Cup

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Bryson DeChambeau, the ultimate showman, stared into the crowd to prepare it to be entertained in the Ryder Cup. Only that wasn't the indelible image from Friday at Bethpage Black, not even close. Neither was the sight of Air Force One flying low over the 15th fairway for President Donald Trump to make his grand entrance, only to leave earlier than he planned. It was Jon Rahm making putts from everything. It was Tommy Fleetwood pointing to his teammates after a clutch birdie. It was Rory McIlroy making two late birdies that assured Europe winning both sessions. The star of the show turned out to be Europe's best, who showed that blue points are far more valuable than panache in building a 5 1/2-2 1/2 lead after the opening day. "Massive," European captain Luke Donald said of the performance of his best players. They all helped Team Europe silence the crowd at Bethpage Black and reminded the Americans that playing at home won't make it any easier to get their hands on that 17-inch gold trophy. McIlroy could have made the deficit even greater except for missing a 12-foot birdie putt for the win on the final match. No matter. Europe faced a tough task and delivered, as it so often seems to do. "It's a great day for Europe," McIlroy said. "We would have absolutely taken this." The two biggest American stars, Scottie Scheffler and DeChambeau, lost both their matches. Scheffler didn't reach the 17th hole in either of his losses. He became the first No. 1 player since Tiger Woods in 2002 at The Belfry to lose both his matches on opening day of the Ryder Cup. "We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities," Scheffler said. "It really just came down to me not holing enough putts." U.S. captain Keegan Bradley remained so confident in his team he sent out most of the same foursomes teams that got hammered in the morning. That includes Harris English and Collin Morikawa, who were 5 down after eight holes against McIlroy and Fleetwood. Also playing again were Scheffler and Russell Henley, who won only two of the 15 holes they played. "We have a plan. We're going to stick to it," Bradley said. "I really like how the players are falling out, and we've got to just go out there tomorrow and make a few more putts and it'll be a whole different story." Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Ryder Cup. He was behind protective glass at first, then walked to the first tee for the afternoon session with DeChambeau. He left a little earlier than planned, perhaps not liking what he saw. Any U.S. hopes for a fast start faded quickly. Bradley was on the first see some 90 minutes before the matches even got started, trying to rile up the crowd that had filled the massive grandstand surrounding the first tee and 18th green before sunrise. He sent out DeChambeau for the first shot, and the two-time U.S. Open champion nearly drove the green to set up a birdie for the first red American score. The idea was to deliver a message. Europe didn't flinch. It delivered points. "The morning, although it was great, it was just one part of a long race," Rahm said. "We started great and we have to keep it going. That's what we did." Rahm went 2-0, with Tyrrell Hatton in foursomes and Sepp Straka in fourballs, and his putting was sublime. In the fourballs match, he made five birdies of at least 9 feet, none bigger than his 20-footer on the 15th on top of Scheffler's 25-foot birdie that appeared — briefly — to give the Americans some hope. The Spaniard is now unbeaten in 11 of his last 12 matches in the Ryder Cup, a streak that began with his singles win over Woods in Paris in 2018. Fleetwood, coming off his first win on U.S. soil to capture the FedEx Cup at the Tour Championship, partnered with McIlroy in the morning and one of his English heroes, Justin Rose, in the afternoon. It was Fleetwood's 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th in the afternoon — which DeChambeau failed to match — that paved the way for another European point. "The scoreboard is what counts," Fleetwood said. "We obviously feel very prepared, and we've been looking forward to this day for a long time now. So to have got off to a good start feels great. Their team is stacked with amazing players, so whoever it is, the match going to be difficult, and the points mean so much." The crowd felt like it belonged at a New York Yankees game, making the occasional insult but rarely a lasting wave of noise because the Americans gave them so little to cheer. McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre had to back off shots when someone from the gallery yelled as they stood over the ball. Someone yelled, "Fore, right!" just as Rahm was to take the club away on his first shot. Europe played through the heckling, match by match building a lead that surely got the Americans' attention going into another day of eight team matches. There were a few bright spots for the Americans. Patrick Cantlay helped avoid a shutout in the opening session when he partnered with new father Xander Schauffele for a 2-up win in foursomes. And he nearly carried Sam Burns to victory in the final match, settling for a halve. Cameron Young, who won a New York State Open at Bethpage Black when he was in college, returned home to his native state and hammered his way with Justin Thomas to the shortest match of the day, a 6-and-5 fourballs win. But it's still a three-point deficit to a European team that looks strong as ever. "We've only played 28 percent of the points," Bradley said. "This is first quarter. We've still got three quarters to go. I've got a lot of faith in my boys."