ROME — Justin Rose began the day a 43-year-old man and ended it a teenager jabbing his finger in the air. The putt he holed for half a point at the final hole was yet another manifestation of the European zeitgeist to which the United States had no answer on a stunning opening day.
Rose’s sledgehammer finish to halve a match in which he and Robert MacIntyre had been trailing since the seventh hole followed like moments from Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm, who salvaged similarly unpromising positions to take Europe to 6.5 points and deny the US what would have been a morale boosting response to the 4-0 mauling suffered in the morning.
Throughout the week a feeling of unity and desire has attached to Europe, led by the impressive captaincy of Luke Donald. The Americans appeared all out of rhythm and fight, like a group who had not hit a competitive ball since the FedEx Cup climaxed a month ago. And a European won that. That man Hovland again. Whilst all 12 of the European team played at the DP World Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth a fortnight ago, only Justin Thomas, Max Homa and Brooks Koepka played in the past month.
When asked if the possibility of missing out on the Ryder Cup was a consideration before his move to LIV, Koepka said he had enough stuff on his mind to worry about that. Ask any European what they think about the Ryder Cup and to a man they rejoice in it. “Why wouldn’t I be invested in the Ryder Cup? I’m European,” said Shane Lowry. He might have been speaking for all. “I play professional golf for a living. This is where you want to be.”
If he has not booked his flight already, Labour leader Keir Starmer should get onto easyJet without delay and book a ticket to Rome this weekend. The case for closer ties to Europe was given powerful expression in the Italian capital, demonstrating how much better we are together.
The British political class has run a mile from the Brexit issue since the vote to leave seven years ago, but the ice around the topic is beginning to melt and if the Labour leader wants an easy win by association, he could do worse than wrap himself in yellow and blue and join the rest of the high-profilers out here.
Europe’s morning rout was attended by the greatest male tennis player of all time, Novak Djokovic, who watched Hovland light the fire at the opening hole and was at the 15th green when Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton put the first point on the board for Europe.
Formula One driver Carlos Sainz might have served as Rahm’s caddie so close was he to his countryman during the 4&3 evisceration of Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Gareth Bale was everywhere. Well, he did start out as a left-back at Southampton and finished as a striker at Real Madrid. England cricketer Ollie Robinson was also in the precinct, but without a ball in his hand lacked the cache of others.
This day looked won the moment Hovland chipped from the fringe at the first sending a 30-footer into the centre of the cup. Watching on the big screen from the first tee, Lowry was suddenly at a ceilidh. “I was trying to stay calm and started losing my mind. That’s what the Ryder Cup does to me. It’s a very special tournament,” he said. “Luke [Donald] spoke to me during the week about keeping Sepp, who is a very easygoing, laid-back type of fella, the way he is. I’m not sure I did a great job of that.”
The Americans were only really in the final match of the morning foursomes, and looked certain to draw level with Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood at the 15th until the latter lasered a par putt from 20 feet and Schauffele missed from five feet for a half.
“Was due one,” Fleetwood said. “Felt really good over it. It’s just one of those Ryder Cup moments, really, and that’s what we’re playing for. It’s really cool.”
When the gates opened at 7am, Rome channelled Pamplona as the unkettled galleries exploded across the turf like bull runners. The 4,800 seats in the Colosseum-like first tee complex were colonised in minutes. They had to wait until 2pm, six hours and 25 minutes after Scheffler got us under way, to see United States lead a match, Justin Thomas slotting a six-footer at the sixth in the first fourballs match of the afternoon.
Rory McIlroy, who won both his matches, emphatically alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, summed up the mood. “All week, all we’ve been talking about is getting off to fast starts. Playing three-hole matches in practise, three holes, go again, three holes, go again, something that Luke’s drilled into us. We were ready to go from the first tee shot, as you can see in how everyone played.”
