The galactical and superhero figures came to watch – those dressed as NASA astronauts, some in Superman fancy dress and even one in an Elvis Presley leather onesie – and yet none of them could match the real-life deeds of those in European blue outfits, who delivered fantasy golf to the 40,000 who packed the Ryder Cup grandstands and the hilly banks around Marco Simone Golf Club outside the Eternal City.
Many of those golf fans had arrived in the early morning darkness, herded behind crash barriers and using their mobile phones for light until the gates opened.
But once the Viking thunderclaps and the Olé-Olé-Olé-Olés on the first tee gave way to actual play, and as one hour followed another through a long day that finished in the setting sun, the drama continued until the very last putt was holed on the 18th green by Justin Rose as Europe finished the first day’s play with a scarcely credible 6½ to 1½ lead.
A historic whitewash for Europe over the USA in the first session of foursomes, for a 4-0 lead, was later followed by a fourballs session that initially saw Luke Donald’s team look set to extend its dominance only for an American fightback, with pride at stake, and which at one point seemed set to deliver far greater rewards for the defending Ryder Cup holders than what ultimately came to them.
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For Europe, those real-life heroes lined up one by one and, remarkably, not a single one of the 12 players – who all saw action – suffered defeat in an enthralling opening day’s play to the 44th edition of the biennial match. It was also the first time the USA had gone winless in a single day.
In the build-up, Shane Lowry had remarked of how he would seek to put his emotions to one side. Such a promise didn’t last long.
He was on the first tee, waiting for his own match with Sepp Straka to start, when Viktor Hovland’s chip-in up ahead on the first green was shown on the giant video screen and Lowry just couldn’t stop himself being Shane Lowry as he jumped up and down and fist-pumped the air and got the crowds even more wound up, if that was possible.
Many hours later, when Hovland again delivered a dramatic finish to his fourballs match – birdieing the 18th from 25 feet to tie his match with Tyrrell Hatton against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth – it was Lowry who again was on hand to lead the celebrations with the sort of yelping and hollering and happiness usually confined to fans.
“It’s hard,” said Lowry of any attempt to keep back his emotions in check. “That’s Shane Lowry out there!”
In truth, Lowry didn’t need to apologise to anybody for his displays of emotion. And he wasn’t alone, for his fellow players high-fived and hugged and the crowds let their vocal chords rise louder and louder at every possible opportunity.
And, for each of the many birdies and eagles that Europe provided through foursomes and fourballs, the huge crowds rowed in with acclaim of their own.
They had good reason to.
There was the run of birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie that Matt Fitzpatrick produced in a run of five holes from the second to the sixth to leave his playing partner Rory McIlroy as a virtual onlooker as the Englishman – playing in his third Ryder Cup – finally managed to win a point in their fourballs success over Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele.
Others performed heroics too in their efforts to keep the foot on the metal in moving on from the foursomes. Jon Rahm, for one.
The Spaniard had earlier watched Nicolai Hojgaard take the spotlight for the early part of their fourballs with Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler, two-up through eight, only for the Americans to hold a one-hole lead standing on the 16th.
But Rahm chipped in for an eagle two on the 16th and, then, after Scheffler nearly holed out with his tee shot on the 17th and regained the advantage with a birdie, it was the US Masters champion Rahm who again produced a response with another eagle, his second in three holes, on the 18th to salvage a halved match.
In advance of the match, Donald had emphasised the need for Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland – all ranked inside the world’s top-four – to lead the way. McIlroy won two out of two points while Rahm and Hovland (with 1½ each) made critical late contributions in their fourballs to remain unbeaten.
“They are superstars. They are studs. They are three of the top four players in the world. You need your superstars firing. You need them playing well. Without that, it’s really an uphill battle. They stepped up and did what they needed to do, and I’m so proud of them,” said Donald of his leading lights.
And there was too a word for Matt Fitzpatrick, who finally managed to secure a coveted win in the match having failed to register a single point in 2018 or 2021.
“It’s his time to start writing the next chapter of his Ryder Cup history, and he started that today,” observed Donald.
