Europe delivered a stunning early domination of the US to quiet a raucous New York crowd and seize a 3-1 lead as US President Donald Trump arrived for Friday’s opening matches of the 45th Ryder Cup.
Trump was faced with US carnage at Bethpage Black as Europe started 3-0 for the first time on US soil.
“Very proud. They have come out very strong,” Europe captain Luke Donald said. “They have really thrived in this tough environment.”
Photo: Reuters
In morning foursomes [alternate shot] matches, US stars won only four holes from the first three matches.
Trump told reporters as he boarded a plane for New York that the US team wasn’t doing well, and “I said, let’s get on the plane. We have to fly and help them.”
Could Trump make the US great again?
Photo: EPA
“We just had the president fly over in Air Force One, so I’ve got a feeling things are going to turn here,” US captain Keegan Bradley said. “It’s not exactly what we wanted... but I’ve got a lot of faith in our boys.”
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood won four of the first six holes to cruise past Americans Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5&4. The “Fleetwood Mc” Cup pairing improved to 3-0.
“It has been amazing,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, won four holes on birdie putts from eight feet or less and blasted from the rough to inches from the sixth hole to set up a Fleetwood birdie.
“One step at a time,” Fleetwood said. “We’ll go all together and see where we get.”
Europe’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg also won four of the first six holes and never trailed in shocking top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and third-ranked Russell Henley 5&3.
“We hit a lot of nice shots and made it hard for them,” Aberg said.
Taking down the two highest-ranked US players was big for Europe.
“Russ and I did some good things. We just didn’t hole enough putts early,” Scheffler said. “We had some chances. The putts just didn’t fall.”
Spain’s Jon Rahm and England’s Tyrrell Hatton outfought Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas 4&3, the Americans winning only the first hole as the European duo improved to 5-0 in Cup foursomes.
“We were aware it was going to be a tough day,” Rahm said. “We battled. We stayed in it. We started hitting putts and found our rhythm and were able to get it done again.”
“We dug in,” Hatton said. “The atmosphere was pretty intense, but good fun.”
Americans Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay never trailed in beating Europe’s Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland 2-up, taking the last two holes after a European rally.
“It was a tough match,” Cantlay said. “Nice to get the point on the board and the fans going.”
Trophy holders Europe seek the first road triumph by either side since their 2012 “Miracle at Medinah,” while the Americans try to win back the Cup after losing two years ago in Rome.
Enhanced security was in place as Trump was set to attend afternoon four-ball [best ball] matches.
When the main gates opened under pitch black skies at 5am, hundreds of fans stampeded along a floodlight-illuminated path, racing to the grandstand for a coveted spot at the opening spectacle.
The high-pressure crucible at the first tee featured 5,000 fans watching from the largest grandstand in Ryder Cup history.
“An electric atmosphere like all first tees,” Donald said. “It’s intense and pure energy.”
The format featured four morning foursomes matches and four afternoon four-ball matches on Friday and yesterday, with 12 concluding singles matches today.
The Americans need 14.5 points to win the Cup. Europe, winners in 10 of the past 14 meetings, need only 14 of 28 points to retain the trophy.
Wilyer Abreu watched the ball leave the park and tossed his bat high in the air. His Venezuela teammates streamed out of the dugout in celebration. The comeback was on and the win over the reigning World Baseball Classic (WBC) champion Japan was within reach. Japan, their 11-game WBC winning streak on the line, held a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning of Saturday’s thrilling quarter-final matchup when Abreu put his team ahead with the biggest swing of the game: a three-run shot off Hiromi Itoh that sent the loanDepot Park crowd into a passionate roar and helped seize Venezuela’s 8-5
A BREATHLESS BATTLE: France clinched the championship in a vicious back-and-forth match with England, denying Ireland the title by just a few points France won back-to-back Six Nations titles after beating England 48-46 on a last-second penalty-kick by Thomas Ramos in a thriller for the ages on Saturday. England scored their seventh try in the 77th minute and converted for 46-45. If the score held for a few more minutes, Ireland would have been crowned the champion. But France pressed yet again with 14 men, lost possession, regained it, and earned two simultaneous penalties after the fulltime siren. Captain Antoine Dupont debated with referee Nika Amashukeli where the penalty spots were. Ramos, who did not miss a goal-kick all night, finally lined up his seventh
Home runs are greeted with a celebratory shot of espresso and the donning of an Armani jacket. Victories are marked with bottles of red wine while the soaring voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli echoes through the locker room. Welcome to baseball, Italian-style. Written off as 80-1 underdogs before the World Baseball Classic started, Italy’s fairytale tournament has carried them all the way to today’s (Taipei time) semi-finals in Miami against Venezuela. On Saturday, Italy — who scored a stunning upset of a star-studded US lineup during the pool phase — kept their unbeaten campaign alive with a nail-biting 8-6
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s second-youngest race winner with a composed drive to victory for Mercedes in an eventful Chinese Grand Prix yesterday. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole position starter and briefly lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari at the start, but retook it soon after and was in control after that. “We did it! We did it!” Antonelli shouted to his team on the radio amid laughs and whoops. It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Antonelli’s teammate George Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Lewis Hamilton was
RSS