US on a roll but Europe vow to bounce back

KOHLER (Wisconsin) • A red wave washed over the Ryder Cup on Friday, as the United States dominated both foursome and fourball sessions to grab a 6-2 lead over Europe for their largest opening-day advantage in the biennial event in a nearly half a century.

With US results highlighted in red and holders Europe in blue on the Whistling Straits' scoreboards, chants of "USA, USA" rang out across the links-style layout as 40,000 mostly American fans basked in a dominating display by their team not seen since 1975.

By winning both sessions 3-1, US captain Steve Stricker's men are nearly halfway to the 141/2 points needed to reclaim the Cup today.

"When you can get off to that good a start it's definitely a bonus and... momentum on our side," the 54-year-old said.

History is surely on the Americans' side as they have never lost a Ryder Cup at home when winning the first session 3-1 or better.

They are 11-0 in that scenario, but European captain Padraig Harrington remained defiant.

"No doubt it was a tough day," he said. "But there's obviously still 20 points to play for. You can't just turn around and try to eat into a lead straightaway in one session... you can't think like that. You've got to do it slowly, one step at a time."

In yesterday's morning foursome session, Europe showed signs of resistance but could not capitalise on their chances.

Spaniards Sergio Garcia and world No. 1 Jon Rahm, who were also first out for the Europeans on Friday and won their match 3 & 1 against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, won another point.

They were three down early on to Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger but recovered to win 3 & 1.

That was the only positive news for Harrington as the partnership of Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa also got off to a flying start. They won the first three holes and established a four-hole lead after the front nine.

But they were pegged by the English duo of Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton, who cut the deficit to one by the 14th hole. The Americans, though, eventually prevailed 2 & 1.

The results of the third and fourth matches were not available at press time, but the hosts were leading in both with a few holes to play and in strong position to extend their four-point lead.

"Hopefully we can keep the pedal down and keep doing more of the same," said FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay.

The US boast an average world ranking of nine compared to 30 for Europe and were the favourites, but few expected the largely inexperienced side with six rookies to deliver such a poised performance.

"We can come back from 6-2," said Rory McIlroy, whose two defeats on Friday were the first time he has endured such a day in six Ryder Cups. He was benched by Harrington from yesterday's opening foursomes matches.

"The golf didn't go as well as he would have liked, but I'm not second-guessing him in terms of his leadership and what he does for my team," Harrington said.

REUTERS