Saturday 29 September 2018 13:19, UK
Team USA enjoyed another successful opening session at the Ryder Cup as they opened up a 3-1 lead after the morning fourballs.
Europe made an encouraging start and led in three of the four matches at one stage, but the holders fought back and Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler set the tone with a comfortable 4&2 win over Thorbjorn Olesen and an out-of-sorts Rory McIlroy.
Justin Rose and Jon Rahm were two up with six to play only to suffer defeat on the last hole to Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, while Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas thwarted a valiant comeback from Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton to make it 3-0 to the visitors.
The visitors also had a two-hole lead in the bottom match despite Tiger Woods clearly struggling with a stiff back alongside Patrick Reed, and Europe finally had some blue on the board thanks to a stirring finish by Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari.
Rose had earlier got the home side off to the ideal start with a sublime approach to a couple of feet at the first which set up a winning birdie which Koepka could not match to prevent the first blue appearing on the board.
Rose and Rahm maintained their advantage until Finau chipped in for eagle at the driveable par-four sixth, but a Rose par was enough to win the seventh before Rahm nailed a birdie putt at the next to double the lead.
Koepka and Rose traded birdies after the turn, with the American's three at 13 reducing the deficit to one, and Finau made it all-square after an extraordinary slice of good fortune at the short 16th, where his tee shot cannoned off the wooden surrounds and landed three feet from the pin to set up a winning birdie.
And a match that Europe were in control of slipped from their grasp at the last, when Rahm could not go for the green from the rough and Rose overcooked his second and found the water at the back of the green, with Koepka's solid par snatching a one-up victory.
Bjorn's decision to pair McIlroy with rookie Olesen backfired, although it was the young Dane who was arguably the most impressive as his esteemed partner found birdies hard to come by.
After the first seven holes were halved, Olesen's par won the eighth before Fowler responded with a birdie at nine to restore parity at the turn.
Fowler also won the 10th and Johnson got in on the act with back-to-back threes at 12 and 13 to give Team USA a commanding three-hole lead, which Fowler maintained with a huge putt at 14 with Olesen nailed on for a birdie.
McIlroy's day was summed up when he left a birdie putt short from 20 feet at 16, and with Johnson in close, the players shook hands with the Americans earning the first point of the week by a 4&2 margin.
Match 3 appeared to be heading for a comfortable USA win as an inspired Spieth picked a grand time to rediscover his touch with the putter, the three-time major champion being five under after seven holes in taking him and Thomas three ahead.
But Casey matched a pair of Thomas birdies at nine and 10 before the Englishman added two more on the next two holes for wins, and Hatton's superb birdie at 13 pulled the match back to all-square.
Thomas then won his first hole of the clash thanks to a well-controlled second to four feet at the 15th, and Hatton was unable to make the birdie he needed at the last to avoid Europe's third defeat of the morning.
The final match out was a rollercoaster affair throughout, although it was another clash that looked likely to end in a red point when Woods birdied the ninth and Reed chipped in at the 10th to take them two up.
However, and perhaps inspired by the Casey and Hatton comeback up ahead, Molinari showed mettle similar to that which swept him to victory at The Open as he birdied 11 and 12 to level the contest.
And with Europe needing a big finish to the session, it was Fleetwood who delivered as he holed a pair of fantastic putts to win both the 15th and 16th, and Molinari's three at the penultimate hole wrapped up a morale-boosting 3&1 win.
