Europe reminds everyone why it owns the Ryder Cup at home

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy – Jon Rahm turned into Seve Ballesteros; Matt Fitzpatrick made like Ian Poulter; and Viktor Hovland and Justin Rose embodied Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and every other cold-blooded, flag-waving conjurer of American nightmares.

You didn’t have to be a Ryder Cup historian to appreciate how three decades of Euro-dominance at home came to bear in one remarkable Friday at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

Europe tied the biggest lead after the opening day, 6.5-1.5, which the U.S. enjoyed on the way to an easy victory in 1975, and Europe held en route to winning easily in 2004.

Dominance? The U.S., which won the Ryder Cup by a gaudy 10 points at home in 2021, did not win a match Friday, the first time that’s ever happened in any single day in the history of this competition.

Europe won all four Foursomes matches in the morning then rallied when things looked bleak in the afternoon. First Hovland (birdie to tie the hole and tie the match), then Rahm (eagle to win the hole and tie the match) and finally Rose (birdie to win the hole and tie) came up big on 18 to tie all three Four-ball matches and stun the U.S.

“I think it was, ‘You and you and you and you’ – that's what I was saying,” Rose said of his chest-thumping reaction to his right-to-left curling birdie putt on 18, which gave him and Robert MacIntyre a half point (tie) after being 2 down with two to play against Max Homa and Wyndham Clark.

“For all the boys,” continued Rose, the oldest player on either team. “You know, just because everyone is in it together. Made the putt because I had 10 people willing it in behind me.”

Not since Season 2 of “The White Lotus” has an American fared so poorly in Italy. But while the U.S. Team was not at its best – U.S. Captain Zach Johnson said some players have been ill – Europe was simply sensational.

Take Fitzpatrick. He went 6 under through six holes, and partner Rory McIlroy, after he finished laughing, birdied the seventh to give Europe a 6-up lead over Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele in the anchor match. From there it was just a matter of time, and Fitzpatrick and McIlroy ultimately prevailed, 5 and 3.

“I'd argue that it was my best warm up since I played U.S. Open in 2022,” Fitzpatrick said. “… And obviously started those first six holes, I was having goosebumps.”

McIlroy earned just one point at the ’21 Ryder Cup in Wisconsin. He vowed to do better this time and has already done so with two points. The most seasoned Ryder Cup player on either side, he’s back to smiles, not tears.

Actually, forget Fitz and McIlroy. Take Rahm. The four-time PGA TOUR winner this season won his first match with Tyrrell Hatton, twice holing out from off the green. And with Nicolai Højgaard in the afternoon, 2 down with five to play, he merely chipped in for eagle at the par-4 16th and banked in his long eagle putt on 18 to salvage an unlikely tie against Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler.

More than anything, though, Europe typified the type of cohesiveness that has made it so formidable at home.

It was Hatton making birdies on 14 and 16 that set up Hovland to come through on 18, sending shock waves across Marco Simone. It was Ryder Cup rookie Højgaard, the youngest player on either team, making birdie on his first ever hole, the par-4 opener, then four straight birdies from holes 5-8 to keep it close and set the stage for Rahm.

“It was a historic day,” Europe Captain Luke Donald said. “But we want it to be a historic week.”

It’s an interesting word, "historic." It’s a nod to not just the record-tying score after Day 1 but also the history of Europe peaking at home. This was supposed to be a year of transition, with players and fans alike wondering aloud who would replace the aged-out legends, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Ballesteros was here Friday, as were Faldo and the others. You could hear them in the roars.