Europe’s Foursomes rout leaves U.S. in need of response

GUYANCOURT, France – Jim Furyk knows what you’re thinking. The shellacking his U.S. team suffered in Friday’s Foursomes looks bad. Really bad. And in truth, it was historically bad.

That’s why he’s trying to convince every American that the sky is not falling. That a match loss is just a match loss, no matter if the score is close or lopsided. And make no mistake – the four afternoon matches that Europe swept at Le Golf National were most definitely lopsided.

A 3 and 2 win by Henrik Stenson/Justin Rose. A 4 and 2 win by Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter. And 5 and 4 wins by Sergio Garcia/Alex Noren and Francesco Molinari/Tommy Fleetwood. It was the 11th time in Ryder Cup history that one side had a clean sweep of any session – and the first time all scores were by 3 and 2 or better. Europe had never before swept a Foursomes session until Friday.

In other words, it was statistically the worst single session of golf the U.S. has ever played in the Ryder Cup.

And really, the scores are just the tip of the statistical domination. Consider this: Of the 60 holes played in the afternoon, the Europeans led after 46 of them, while only one American team – Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson in their first six holes against McIlroy/Poulter – ever held a lead. As European Captain Thomas Bjorn said, “It seemed like nothing could go wrong for us.”

But from Furyk’s perspective, only the results matter, not the score. “You lose 6 and 5, you lose 2 and 1. It’s still the same result, correct?” Furyk said.

Yet he quickly followed with a dose of reality as his U.S. team enters Day 2 facing a 5-3 deficit. If his side can’t figure out its issues in Foursomes, it could be another long afternoon on Saturday.

“We have to shore things up, and I’m guessing we’ll switch things up in the afternoon tomorrow,” Furyk said. “We’ve already been thinking about that.

“Does it pose a problem? I think our guys, I think they will respond. I really do. I have a lot of confidence in this team. Obviously it’s going to leave a sour taste in their mouth tonight and they have to sleep on that.”

To think just a few hours earlier, that taste was so sweet. The U.S. claimed the first three matches of the morning Four-balls, and had it not been for a back-nine rally by Molinari/Fleetwood to beat Tiger Woods/Patrick Reed, it would’ve been an American sweep and this thing would be tied.

Give credit to the Europeans for not pushing the early panic button. In fact, they seemed generally pleased on how they played in the morning – and getting the confidence boost by winning the last match set the tone after a quick turnaround to the afternoon session.

“We might have been a tad unlucky there with the 3-1 result,” said Stenson, who watched from the sidelines, “but we made up for it in the afternoon.”

Indeed, the Europeans flipped the script by using the same script from four years ago at Gleneagles. On that Friday, they fell behind after losing the morning session, but then won 3.5 points in the afternoon to take the same 5-3 lead they now have entering this Saturday. Of course, Europe went on to victory four years ago, extending their home winning streak that first began in 1997.

“I think a big thing for us this week is … resilience, but also persistence,” said McIlroy, who bounced back from a rough morning – he was the only player not to post a birdie – with a much better performance alongside Poulter. “You have to persist. Persist, persist, persist, until it turns around for you, and this morning wasn't ideal, but it was still a better start than the one we got off to at Hazeltine.”

Ah, yes. Two years ago at Hazeltine, the Americans swept the first session en route to claiming the Ryder Cup by a healthy margin. From an emotional perspective – as well as an historical one -- it was important for Europe to avoid a similar sweep Friday morning.

Why historical? Of the 10 previous Ryder Cups that included a session sweep, the team with the sweep won nine times and drew another. That’s why it’s the Americans who now must overcome those historic odds.

Even Furyk couldn’t sugarcoat being swept.

“If we would have lost both sides 2.5 to 1.5 and this thing were 5-3, we would still be in the same place,” Furyk said. “Y’all would probably have a little bit different look on your face about how it happened.

“In the afternoon, going 4-0 is significant.”

So what can be done for the U.S. side to bounce back?

Furyk isn’t worried about Saturday’s Four-balls. In fact, he’s sending out the same four pairings that he used on Friday. That includes the duo of Woods/Reed, neither of whom played in the afternoon. Any concerns that Woods might be in some physical discomfort – which could’ve explained his absence from the afternoon session, the first time he’s been benched for a Friday session in his Ryder Cup career – were squashed by Furyk, who pointed out that Woods was working on the driving range Friday night.

“Any time Tiger doesn’t play, or maybe he stretches a little bit, everyone gets a little hypersensitive that he might have a back issue,” Furyk said. “But I’m not aware of anything like that.”

As for Foursomes, Furyk alluded to potentially shaking things up, and said how well the Americans play in the morning could influence his decision making. He was asked specifically about Phil Mickelson, who if you haven’t heard ranks 192nd in driving accuracy this season out of 193 ranked players on the PGA TOUR.

Playing Mickelson in Foursomes on a tight course that demands accuracy off the tee theoretically exposes that weakness more than in Four-balls, where he can be bailed out by his partner if things get off-line. Furyk argued that because Le Golf National limits driver off the tee, Mickelson is usually pulling 3-wood or a driving iron out of his bag, thus minimizing the risks.

Mickelson and partner Bryson DeChambeau had little to offer in their loss to Garcia/Noren. Whether that duo sits both sessions on Saturday is one of the intriguing questions about Saturday.

“I have all the confidence in both of those players, and I have so much confidence in Phil in his ability to take a young player like Bryson and help him out,” Furyk said. “Also, it’s Phil Mickelson, major champion.”

As for the European perspective, they left Le Golf National with a big dose of momentum and the red-hot team of Fleetwood and Molinari, who are now likely to play all five matches this week. But Bjorn’s side also realizes that 20 matches remain to be played, and that the Americans will offer a suitable response.

“They’re going to be upset with this afternoon,” Molinari said. “We’re going to need to be ready for their reaction.”

The golf ball’s in the Americans’ court now. Let’s see if they can keep it in the fairway