FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay prevented another Friday morning shutout at the Ryder Cup by winning their foursomes match 2 up over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
Team Europe leads the United States team 3-1 after the first session of the week at Bethpage Black, hearkening back to Europe’s 4-0 sweep of Friday morning foursomes in 2023 outside Rome.
“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we know the Ryder Cup is going to be ebbs and flows, and I’ve got a lot of faith in our boys,” U.S. captain Keegan Bradley said.
Spanish star Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton of England took down Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, 4 and 3; Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick prevailed 5 and 3 over World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley; and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Tommy Fleetwood of England won 5 and 4 against Collin Morikawa and Harris English.
The final match saw Schauffele and Cantlay squander a 3-up lead on the back nine. Hovland cut into Europe’s deficit with birdie winners from 10 feet at Nos. 12 and 13.
Bradley was seen trying to fire up the restless crowd as the Americans followed Cantlay and Schauffele to the 15th hole. Both teams missed the green at No. 15 and pitched on to about 6 feet, but Cantlay missed his par save and Hovland sank his to even the match.
At the par-3 17th, MacIntyre missed the green, and par was enough for Schauffele and Cantlay to take the hole. Hovland’s drive at No. 18 missed far to the right and settled in a native area, making it easier on the veteran U.S. duo as they dialed up a clinching birdie.
“If we’re only going to win one point, might as well be the anchor match going into the afternoon,” Schauffele said. “Yeah, we need to get some points back on the board here.”
The event will continue in the afternoon with four matches of fourball (best ball), with President Donald Trump in attendance with his golfer granddaughter, Kai Trump. They settled in at about noon local time with security heightened around Bethpage State Park.
DeChambeau walked in a 15 1/2-foot birdie putt that handed the first hole of the day to the Americans. But that was the only hole he and Thomas would win.
Hatton holed an 11 1/2-foot birdie at No. 8 to put the European duo ahead and drained a 19-footer and an 8-footer at Nos. 12-13 for a 3-up lead.
“This man is a joy to be partnered with,” Rahm said. “We spend a lot of time together and he can be very, very dependable when things get going difficult. I have full confidence every single time, and just glad we were able to get it done.”
McIlroy and Fleetwood were on cruise control, birdieing five of the first eight holes for a 5-up lead. The five-time major winner and current FedEx Cup champion, respectively, improved to 3-0-0 together at Ryder Cup foursomes, as did Rahm and Hatton.
“I’ve been looking forward to doing this again since that last putt dropped in Rome,” McIlroy said.
“It’s been amazing to be part of another European Ryder Cup team, to play alongside (Fleetwood), he’s one of the best players in the world. And to know that I have him by my side, it frees me up. I can play with ultimate trust and ultimate freedom.”
The biggest flop of the morning was the pairing of Scheffler and Henley, who were outplayed off the tee and around the greens. At the par-4 12th, while Aberg and Fitzpatrick sailed to a birdie, Henley flew his approach shot over the green and Scheffler’s chip up a slope did not make it onto the surface.
Scheffler continued to struggle at the Ryder Cup after going 0-2-2 in 2023.
“I felt like Russ and I did some good things. We just didn’t hole enough putts early,” Scheffler said. “We had some chances. I think the putts just didn’t fall.”
The afternoon matches will pit Scheffler and J.J. Spaun against Rahm and Austria’s Sepp Straka; Ben Griffin and DeChambeau vs. Fleetwood and fellow Englishman Justin Rose; Cameron Young and Thomas vs. Aberg and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard; and Sam Burns and Cantlay vs. McIlroy and Irishman Shane Lowry.
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
