Europe enjoyed a dream start to the 44th Ryder Cup after registering their first clean sweep of the opening session in the event’s history.
Luke Donald’s men dominated from the outset and head into the afternoon’s fourballs with a commanding 4-0 advantage at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, just outside Rome.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton led Europe off amid a typically raucous atmosphere and never trailed against world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, winning 4&3.
Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg were equally dominant against Max Homa and Brian Harman. Europe were 2up through six holes and further gains at the ninth and 14th also saw them record a 4&3 triumph.
In a remarkable first couple of hours, Europe remained on top in match three, Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka quickly moving 4up on Ricke Fowler and Collin Morikawa.
The US did pull it back slightly but the Irish/Austrian pair never looked like relinquishing their advantage on their way to a 2&1 win.
History was beckoning and it was delivered by the final European pairing of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, who edged out Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 2&1 thanks to a stunning McIlroy tee shot at the par-three 17th.
This afternoon’s four-ball pairings.@ROLEX | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/47Rnh2WHDI
— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 29, 2023
