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The 2023 Ryder Cup gets up and running this morning as Team Europe begin their bid to win back the trophy in Rome. The Americans will be feeling confident, just two years on from their record-breaking win at Whistling Straits, but remarkably they have not won a Ryder Cup away from home since 1993.
Luke Donald has opted for foursomes in the opening session, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton first out for the Europeans as they take on Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. There is huge excitement over Team Europe’s second pairing, as Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg go up against Max Homa and Brian Harman.
Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka then face American duo Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa, before a blockbuster fourth match brings the opening session to an end. Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood are two of Europe’s big hopes this week, but they face a tough test against the familiar Team USA pairing of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog below!
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McIlroy ready to deliver
Rory McIlroy has pledged to bring his A-game to this year’s Ryder Cup, after his Whistling Straits toils of two years ago.
McIlroy cut a tearful figure on US soil as Team Europe succumbed to a record 19-9 defeat and , ahead of what is his seventh Ryder Cup, the Northern Irishman said he was trying to be something he was not back in 2021.
“I didn’t feel in full control of my game,” he said of the last Ryder Cup. “I wasn’t believing in myself that time, but the rest of the team did believe in me. The team sent me out No1 in singles. That gave me so much confidence.”
“Just being myself is enough,” he said when asked what he had learned. “A good part of 2021, I was trying to be something that wasn’t natural to me. I went back to being myself and trying to express myself on the golf course.
“The last two years have proved that’s the way I’m going to play my best golf. I certainly feel better coming into this Ryder Cup and I’m more than capable of delivering more than one point this time around.”
Course to favour European hopes?
This week promises to be one of sporting success for Surrey Cricket after they won a second successive County Championship title.
The county also has had an unlikely hand in how the Ryder Cup might play out for the next three days. Dave Sampson was a data analyst for Surrey while he studied golf architecture and is now very much at the forefront of golf course design.
When Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, created in 1991, won the right to host this year’s Ryder Cup, Sampson was called upon to redesign it.
A major part of his remit was to make a course that gave Europe their best possible chance of continuing their remarkable run of success on home soil, dating back three decades.
Read the full story on that here!
Bit of ‘music’ to get in the mood…
Spieth and Thomas on the bench
Zach Johnson’s big call this morning was to leave out Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
The pair have strong records playing together, winning all four of their matches alongside each other at the Presidents Cup a year ago.
But Thomas has been in poor form, with many believing he was fortunate to receive a captain’s pick, while Spieth’s focus in recent weeks has been the birth of his second child.
“The gist of it is we have 12 and I can’t play all 12 each session so at some point somebody has to sit,” Johnson said when asked why he had not included the close friends this morning.
“It’s a golf course which demands a lot out of you physically. I think it’s an ideal situation where you don’t necessarily play everyone all five sessions.
“The eight guys I have down on paper, I feel, put us in the best position to get us off to a great start.”
Formats explained
What is fourball golf?
The fourball format consists of a pair of players from each team playing in one group, each player playing their own ball.
At the end of each hole the best score from each pair is counted towards whether the hole goes to Europe, the USA or is halved.
How does it differ from foursomes?
In foursomes there are the same number of golfers but instead of playing their own ball the pairs take alternate shots with the same ball.
Complications can arise here as to whose ball is used, as each golfer will be used to the particular ball they play with on Tour.
Scheffler and Burns under pressure?
American captain Zach Johnson has opted for Scheffler and Burns first up, with the duo close friends off the course.
It hasn’t been a hugely successful foursomes partnership on the course though, with two defeats at the Presidents Cup last year. The pair were beaten by Si-woo Kim and Cam Davis, and then by Tom Kim and K.H. Lee.
Scheffler has had his struggles with the putter recently, while Burns isn’t in the best of form. It’s a bold pick by Johnson.
Donald backs ‘Team Angry’ to deliver
Jon Rahm will begin Team Europe’s quest to win the Ryder Cup on home soil along with Tyrrell Hatton this morning.
The duo of Rahm and Hatton, dubbed ‘Team Angry’ in some quarters because of their feisty personalities, will start the event at 6:35am UK time against world No1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, who has had the letters ‘USA’ shaved into the side of his head for the three-day event.
European captain Luke Donald dubbed his duo the perfect combination for the hosts. He said: “They’re both world-class players, both fantastic ball-strikers. Jon feeds off a playing partner with serious fire and passion.
“He wants to feel like he’s out with a team-mate really engaged with him. Tyrrell really fits that bill. The Ryder Cup means a lot to both of those. Their personalities match up, the statistics point to a strong partnership.”
Some setting for the opening tee shots!
Weather forecast
It is set to be a hot week in Rome, with rain not expected to be a factor at any point during the three days of action.
Temperatures are likely to get up close to 30C by the afternoon on each day, with low winds of about 6mph.
Could prove to be one of the hottest Ryder Cups we’ve ever had, going to be a real test physically on hilly course.
This morning’s foursomes schedule…
All times BST.
Match 1, 6:35am: Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns vs Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton
Match 2, 6:50am: Max Homa/Brian Harman vs Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg
Match 3, 7:05am: Rickie Fowler/Collin Morikawa vs Shane Lowry/Sepp Straka
Match 4, 7:20am: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay vs Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood
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