Europe extend lead after morning fourballs

Europe made sure to build on their advantage, following up a foursomes whitewash with a 3-1 victory in the Saturday morning fourball matches

The European team expected a big fight back from the American’s during the four morning matches on Saturday, but instead Europe pushed ahead further as the U.S side failed to gain back any momentum and the points gap widened between the two sides. 

Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy were paired up for the first time since Gleneagles, and both players dovetailed well as they set the tone for the morning by racing in to the lead over Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau – who had claimed a point over the Rahm/Rose Friday pairing. 

With five birdies in their opening eight holes Garcia and McIlroy moved to 4UP over the two-time 2018 major champion and his partner, although a fightback quickly ensued over the back-nine. 

Finau birdied the 15th and 16th holes and after losing three holes in a row the momentum looked to be on the side of the American’s, particularly when Brooks found the green with his second shot on the 17th. But McIlroy holed a phenomenal putt from lengthy distance for par, much like he had holed big putts earlier in the day, and an inspired Garcia followed him in from around 25feet for birdie. Koepka couldn’t answer, and the first point went to Europe. 

The second point came shortly after. Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton were eight-under-par on Friday morning and still couldn’t win, but on Saturday they played even better. 9 birdies for the English pair saw them take down World no.1 Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. 

DJ was at one point nearly the only player without a birdie on the golf course, but by the 15th hole he chipped in to keep the match going. They lasted until the 16th, where neither he or Fowler could convert their birdies to force the match to 17, losing 3&2 to Hatton and an emotional Casey – who made his return to Ryder Cup for the first time in 10 years. 

Following them with the third point of the day was the 2018 European Ryder Cup dream-team of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, who made it three wins from three after beating Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed for the second consecutive fourball session in a row. 

Woods seemed to be out there alone as Captain America failed to find fairways and pushed his drives in to thick rough, out of bounds or in to water, and the dynamic pairing of Fleetwood and Molinari kept making putts and putting themselves ahead. 

Woods and Reed were lucky to find themselves just one down at the turn having been two-down after three, and there was a shift in momentum as they pegged it back to A/S after 10. But it wouldn’t last long. 

Three birdies in a row from Francesco Molinari suddenly flipped the match firmly back in favour of the Europeans, aided by both American players finding the water on the 13th hole. 

In the end a par was good enough to win the 15th, their final hole, as the European duo who have had so much success at Le Golf National as individuals, cemented themselves as the most successful pairing of this year’s contest so far with a 4&3 victory. 

The final match was a tight one, but ultimately went in favour of a gritty Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, who stopped Europe becoming the first team in history to win every match in two consecutive sessions. 

Spieth, who had been on a birdie run during Friday morning, got the first piece of red on the board with a birdie at the par-three second, but that advantage was quickly reversed. 

Mistakes from both Spieth and Thomas meant a Jon Rahm par on the 4th got the match back to all-square, and a huge putt from Poulter on the 7th saw the whole board turn blue for the first time in the fourball matches. 

Three of the next five holes would go in favour of the U.S.A, until Jon Rahm’s first birdie of the day on the par-four 12th moved Europe back to just 1 down. They halved the 16th hole in impressive fashion, with both Poulter and Thomas sticking it close and holing for birdies. 

It would all come to an end on the 17th though. Justin Thomas stuffed his second shot in close, and would hole the putt for birdie to complete a 2&1 victory over Poulter and Rahm, and cutting the defecit to four points.