Key events
Cameron Young was in stellar form yesterday, and he immediately keeps on keepin’ on. From the centre of the fairway, he lands his wedge 15 feet past the flag, then screws it back to tap-in distance! Sensational! In the stand, the living legend Michael Jordan, game recognising game, punches the air in delight. That’ll be a gimme birdie. Matt Fitzpatrick, from a tight angle in the rough to the right, wedges to ten feet. Under normal circumstances, we’d be praising that shot to the hilt. After what Young’s just done, that’s not going to happen. Åberg at least with a chance for birdie, though.
Luke Donald’s turn, and he’s asked about the positives he took from yesterday’s performance. “The resiliency of the guys … how they handled the moment … got off to a great start … finished strong … it gets loud when you cross the road but they handled it great … we celebrated yesterday because it was a great day for us but we know there’s a lot more work ahead … keep going … momentum … get some blue on the board early … we have a plan, depending on how this morning goes, either way … I’m very confident that whatever happens, we’ll be ready.”
Keegan Bradley dispenses some folksy charm on US television. “We’re ready for a fight … seems like New York has woken up a little bit here … crowd’s goin’ … I’m excited … I gotta good feeling about today … we’re currently in the firing-up zone right now, we’ll worry about pulling back later today … I just want [Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler] to be them, to go out there and be the best players they can be … be the leaders of this team and go out and get some points for us today!”
They’re at it again: “De! Cham!! BEAU!!! / De! Cham!! BEAU!!! / De! Cham!! BEAU!!!” Bryson lost both of his matches yesterday, but he brought the noise regardless, and today’s partner Cameron Young was nigh-on perfect on his Ryder Cup debut in the afternoon, the main reason Ludvig Åberg and Rasmus Højgaard were shredded 6&5. (To be fair, Young’s partner Justin Thomas admitted as much, telling a post-match interviewer that he enjoyed the best seat in the house for the show Young put on.) So this is going to be quite a test for Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick … and the former carves Europe’s opening tee shot towards the trees near the left-to-right dogleg. Not ideal. Bryson takes America’s first strike of the day, and larrups a beauty over the corner, landing his ball 40 yards shy of the green. Perfection. “De! Cham!! BEAU!!! / De! Cham!! BEAU!!! / De! Cham!! BEAU!!!” They’re at it again. Again!
The American fans have got themselves a new chant. Derived from the classic “U! S!! A!!! / U! S!! A!!! / U! S!! A!!!”, it goes “De! Cham!! BEAU!!! / De! Cham!! BEAU!!! / De! Cham!! BEAU!!!” before segueing back into a round of “U! S!! A!!! / U! S!! A!!! / U! S!! A!!!” This instant baroque classic is what greets the man himself, plus Team USA’s new hero, Cameron Young, as they take to the stage on the 1st tee. Wow. The partial will demur, but what a beautiful noise. Some atmosphere at Bethpage right here!
A reminder of the scores on the door after day one. This is what happened in the Friday morning foursomes …
DeChambeau/Thomas v Rahm/Hatton 4&3
Scheffler/Henley v Åberg/Fitzpatrick 5&3
Morikawa/English v McIlroy/Fleetwood 5&4
2UP Schauffele/Cantlay v MacIntyre/Hovland
… and here’s how things shook down in the afternoon fourballs …
Scheffler/Spaun v Rahm/Straka 3&2
Griffin/DeChambeau v Fleetwood/Rose 1UP
6&5 Young/Thomas v Åberg/Højgaard
Burns/Cantlay A/S McIlroy/Lowry
… which leaves us with the current scoreline of USA 5½-2½ Europe.
Preamble
Europe go into the second day of the 2025 Ryder Cup leading 5½-2½. That’s a damn fine position to be in. But it’s not quite as good as the 6½-1½ first-day advantage they established on US soil in 2004, or the 6-2 first-day leads they built Stateside in 1987 and 1999. And while Europe went on to win the first two of the three events we’ve just referenced, the third on that list was Brookline, so, well, y’know. Put it this way: no European golf fan worth their salt who lived through that will be counting their chickens just yet. So with much still to play for, these Saturday morning foursomes should be a whole world of fun (all times BST). It’s on!
12.10pm: Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young v Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg
12.26pm: Harris English and Collin Morikawa v Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood
12.42pm: Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay v Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton
12.58pm: Russell Henley and Scottie Scheffler v Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland
