Europe hits hard again
FARMINGDALE, NY (AP) — President Donald Trump’s absence was the only thing that changed on Day 2 of the Ryder Cup as Europe kept its foursomes, filled the blue-dotted leaderboard and dealt a resounding blow to the Americans. Rory McIlroy asked the crowd to be quiet — using a few extra words — before hitting his shot. But his partnership with Tommy Fleetwood was the highlight, as he made seven birdies in another victory over Harris English and Collin Morikawa.
Jon Rahm, meanwhile, improved his record to 6-0 in foursomes, teaming up with Tyrrell Hatton again to defeat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 3-2, marking the first loss of the week for an American. “You need your superstars to be performing at their best, and they’ve certainly shown that so far,” European captain Luke Donald said of Rahm and McIlroy.
In contrast, world number one Scottie Scheffler made history by becoming the first player to lose his first three Ryder Cup matches. He had a chance to tie the tie in the tiebreaker match, but missed a 104-yard lob wedge shot, squandering the opportunity.
Key details
“We fought hard out there,” Scheffler said. “The opponents played really well.” Europe won six of the eight foursomes matches and had already secured the advantage going into Sunday, with a score of 8.5 to 3.5, a smaller margin than two years ago in Rome, but still a considerable challenge.
American captain Keegan Bradley stuck to his strategy, which has become a horror story. He walked alone down the 15th fairway as thousands of fans filled the stands and surrounding areas of the last four holes, creating a tense atmosphere with insults directed at the Europeans.
English and Morikawa hadn't played the 17th hole in their two foursomes matches. Despite making five birdies, they conceded two holes with bogeys on the 7th and 8th holes, allowing Europe to take a 4-up lead.
A glimmer of hope for the Americans was Cameron Young, a New Yorker who won a state tournament and tied the course record at Bethpage Black as an amateur. He teamed with Justin Thomas for the most dominant finish of the week on Friday afternoon, then joined Bryson DeChambeau for a 4-and-2 victory over Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg.
Statements and context
Young was sent back onto the course in the afternoon alongside Thomas. Scheffler, despite his 0-3 record, was again in the lineup, as he is considered the best player in golf—at least over 72 holes with his own ball—and the Americans desperately needed every point before the 12 individual matches.
In the afternoon, Scheffler played alongside DeChambeau, a pairing that had a 1-0-1 record in fourballs at Whistling Straits four years ago. However, they never led in their match, even though the quality of golf was high. Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland made seven birdies in 14 holes in a hard-fought match. Europe regained the lead when MacIntyre teed to 5 feet on the par-3 14th for birdie. They tied the remaining holes with pars, although Scheffler didn't give his team a chance to win the 18th with his wedge.
Hovland was ruled out of the afternoon session with a neck injury, being replaced by Hatton.
