Ryder Cup: Europe edge day two foursomes after stunning Spanish rally
By Keith Jackson at Hazeltine
Last Updated: 02/10/16 12:48am
Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello staged an astonishing fightback as Europe clawed back further ground on the USA in a riveting second-day foursomes session at the Ryder Cup.
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The Spanish duo fought back from four down with six to play to snatch a remarkable half-point against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed in the bottom match, while Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters again played a starring role as Europe edged the session to reduce the overall American lead to just a single point heading into the fourballs.
Friday's opening whitewash prompted Darren Clarke to put out four different pairings for the alternate shot format, and his decision was justified as his side won two of the first three matches ahead of the dramatic turn of events in the last.
McIlroy and Pieters, fresh from their emotional win in the final match of day one, led from the front as they beat Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler 4&2, while Chris Wood marked his debut with a victory alongside Justin Rose against Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson.
But Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka earned their second point of the contest with a battling win over Henrik Stenson and rookie Matt Fitzpatrick to ensure Davis Love's side would remain in the lead at lunchtime.
The top match got off to a fast start with Pieters and Fowler both holing long-range putts for birdie before McIlroy got one to drop at the next to take Europe one up, a lead they soon tripled with a par at the fourth and another birdie at the fifth.
Mickelson and Fowler twice reduced the deficit to one after the turn, but they got into trouble at 14 and Pieters holed another clutch putt for a win at the next before safely finding the green in two at the long 16th to ensure the first point of the day.
Snedeker and Koepka were the only winners for the US on Friday afternoon, and they were gifted a two-hole lead when Stenson and Fitzpatrick bogeyed the fourth, although the European pair pulled one back with a birdie at seven and then levelled with another at the 11th.
But, after a half in bogeys at 12, the home pair reeled off three consecutive birdies before Fitzpatrick's attempt to reach the 16th green in two ended with a pulled three-wood into the water.
Match three was a tense affair as the first six holes were halved before Rose and Wood edged ahead with a birdie at the seventh, and another at the 10th doubled their lead which they extended when the Americans bogeyed 13.
However, Johnson and Walker fired back with winning birdies at two of the next three holes, but after Rose knocked a brilliant second to 15 feet at the last, Johnson flew the green with his approach and the English duo held on to put more blue on the board.
Reed and Spieth tore up the front nine and carded five birdies over the first seven holes and, although Garca and Cabrera Bello did well to respond with three birdies of their own, the Europeans were three down at the turn.
But after losing the 11th to par, Spieth and Reed saw their lead halved with a run of three consecutive bogeys, and they could not match Garcia's birdie putt at 16, Cabrera Bello holed a beauty from the fringe at the next after Spieth's long-range effort hung on the lip.
The Spaniards looked in with a chance to win the last when they found the heart of the green in two with the home pair facing a tricky up-and-down from the rough, but Spieth pitched to four feet and Reed converted to salvage a half.
