Molinari-Fleetwood spark European dominance on Friday

GUYANCOURT, France — Perhaps only their loved ones would have guessed Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood would be the dominant force on the opening day of the Ryder Cup.

Although, the rumor is that Fleetwood promised his son as much as a first birthday present.

It was kismet you see … his son’s name is Franklin, or Franky for short, and Molinari is also known as Franky.

Even with the omen, their performance was not one many predicted. Fleetwood is a Ryder Cup rookie and Molinari’s Ryder Cup record was a poor 0-4-2.

Nothing against the current Open champion from Italy and the extremely talented English former French Open winner at Le Golf National — but with both squads so stacked in Paris, they just didn’t sit on the top line of MVP betting.

But MVP’s they were. And then some.

They went 2-0 as a duo Friday … against Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed and Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth no less.

Those four Americans boast 19 majors and four FedExCup titles between them.

The European pair has just one major — Molinari’s triumph at Carnoustie earlier this year.

“They just love playing with each other,” European captain Thomas Bjorn explained. “They just have a very special bond and relationship, and they have for a long time.

“They had a very, very good day today. And it's nice to see Francesco, he's played in two Ryder Cups and he's never been the guy that's right at the front of everything, but he certainly has stood up today and showed why he won an Open Championship and why he's a force to be reckoned with in the world of golf.”

While their afternoon 5 and 4 demolition of Thomas and Spieth in Foursomes was impressive, it was their morning Four-ball match that sparked the momentous afternoon comeback for Europe.

When they walked off the 10th green during the morning session having just lost two straight holes to fall two down to Woods and Reed, things looked bleak.

“Captain America” Reed has always been a formidable force in the Ryder Cup and Woods’ career speaks for itself, let alone the fact he’s coming off his 80th PGA TOUR win at the TOUR Championship.

But Molinari wasn’t shaken, and the Italian reeled off two straight birdies to square the match once more.

It was still all square as they headed to the final four holes … or “the loop of doom” as it is known at Le Golf National because of the abundance of water.

Up stepped Fleetwood.

He holed a 25-footer from the fringe for a win on the par-4 15th.

He then went one better with a 40-foot bomb on the par-3 16th — his split legged squat celebration and chest bump with Molinari will be played on highlight reels for all time.

Guaranteed at least a half Molinari then put the Americans out of their misery with a birdie of his own from outside 20-feet on the par-4 17th.

Match over.

It was extremely important as their teammates had all lost up ahead and the boards already had the USA up 3-0.

At 3-1 a repeat of the sweep two years ago at Hazeltine was avoided. And as such so was the negative mindset.

“Two guys stand up in the end and hole the putts on 15, 16, 17 to win the match when it really matters. It gives them belief, but also gives their teammates a hope,” Bjorn said.

“If I'm going to be honest, I think the guys that played at Hazeltine probably feared a little bit at one stage that we would go the same route as there because we knew how much an uphill battle that was.

“That's not a position we certainly wanted to be in again. So obviously that lifted those guys that were there at Hazeltine. All of a sudden 3-1 didn't seem as bad as 4-nil would have done.”

Sent right back out there, they rode the momentum. A birdie on the third hole opened up a lead they would never relinquish against Thomas and Spieth — who had looked ultra-impressive in a morning win.

This time they didn’t even make it to the loop of doom, winning 5 and 4.

“We enjoy playing together, and obviously spending time together,” Molinari said. “He's played amazing this morning and this afternoon. I think we just combine really well.

“I love him. What can I say? We both played really well. We had a couple of moments where we had to dig in, but we both stayed positive.”

Fleetwood — who has been given some time away from the team this evening to blow some candles out with his young son — enjoyed every moment of his debut.

“You can't prepare for it,” he said. “We were walking down six and we said, sounds a little bit better this afternoon, and the energy that comes off those guys going in front, I don't really know how to describe it.

“All the preparation you do, just nothing gets you ready for this. I loved every minute of it.”