Ryder Cup: Rory McIlroy silences a 'hostile' Hazeltine crowd

Rory McIlroy produced the most passionate celebration of his career as he sent a message of defiance to a "hostile" home crowd at the end of the first day of the Ryder Cup.

McIlroy partnered impressive rookie Thomas Pieters to a 3&2 win over Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar in the final match of the day at Hazeltine National, sealing victory in some style as he drained a 20-foot putt for eagle on the 16th green.

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But it was his reaction afterwards that echoed the memorable exploits of Ian Poulter at Medinah in 2012, bowing twice to the crowd before aggressively punching the air and embracing the young Belgian and his delighted team mates.

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The win was Europe's third of the afternoon session as they fought back from the whitewash of the morning foursomes, and McIlroy said: "Even before I hit that putt, I wanted to put an exclamation point on that session for us. I honestly actually thought about the celebration before I hit the putt.

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"It's a hostile environment out there and I just want everyone that's watching out there to know how much this means to us, how much it means to me personally and obviously us as a team. We're not going down without a fight."

Ryder Cup - The story of day 1

Catch up with the key moments and find out what caused a stir on social media yesterday

Watch the video to see McIlroy's emotional outburst after capping a spirited European fightback on day one.

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