SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — The Americans haven’t opened with a lead this large in the Ryder Cup since Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino were playing, and before Tiger Woods was even born. RELATED: Full recap from Day 1 | Pairings, preview for Saturday morning That didn’t seem to be big enough to satisfy U.S. captain Steve Stricker. Dustin Johnson and Xander Schauffele each won two matches, Bryson DeChambeau smashed a drive that had everyone talking and the Americans were relentless Friday at Whistling Straits in losing only one match to build a 6-2 lead. “It’s a great start. We are happy with the start,” Stricker said. “But my message to the guys is tomorrow is a new day. Pretend today never happened, and let’s keep our foot down and continue to play the golf that we know we can play.” Oh, how Europe would like to forget this day ever happened. Rory McIlroy never made it to the 16th hole in losing both his matches on the opening day for the first time. The lone bright spot was Jon Rahm, living up his No. 1 ranking by winning in foursomes with Sergio Garcia and keeping Europe in a tight fourballs match long enough for Tyrrell Hatton to birdie the last hole to at least salvage a half-point. Europe has never trailed by four points after the first day since the Ryder Cup was expanded to include the continent in 1979, the modern era of these matches that Europe now dominates. Go back to 1975 to find the last time the U.S. had a four-point lead in the Ryder Cup. “No doubt, it was a tough day,” European skipper Padraig Harrington said, attributing the difference to a putt here, there and pretty much everywhere. “There’s obviously still 20 points to play for.” Suddenly, though, there seems to be a sense of urgency. The Americans were delivering big moments and the big smiles, waving up hands to get the one-sided gallery to cheer even louder, cupping hands to their ears to urge them along. They are looking for a fresh start after a quarter-century of losing, and its youngest team in history took a big step to creating their own memories. “They fought hard every single shot out there, from what I saw,” DeChambeau said after he and Scottie Scheffler earned a halve in fourballs. “This is a great start, but the job’s not over. We have two more days. A lot more golf. And we cannot lose our mindset to win.” The first point of the 43rd Ryder Cup, postponed one year by the pandemic, went to Europe and its new “Spanish Armada” of Rahm and Garcia. The final match ended in a halve when Justin Thomas delivered a late eagle putt that allowed him and Patrick Cantlay to come all the way back from a 3-down deficit. Through the morning chill, the midday warmth, a ferocious wind in the afternoon and even a little rain, the one constant was American red scores filling the boards across Whistling Straits. “We can come back from 6-2,” said McIlroy, trying to summon calm and confidence after losing both matches. Europe will have to do it without him. McIlroy is not part of the foursomes lineup Saturday morning, the first time he has sat in a Ryder Cup. Both captains stuck to their plans, and it only worked out for one of them. Even with a 3-1 start in foursomes, Stricker broke up all his American teams as planned and still won the afternoon fourballs session with two wins and two draws. Johnson and Schauffele never trailed together, while the high-spirited Tony Finau made six birdies as he and Harris English trounced McIlroy and Shane Lowry. DeChambeau still hasn’t won a Ryder Cup match, but he delivered quite a show. He pounded a drive to where no one had dared to go on the par-5 fifth hole. It cleared a massive bunker complex and stopped rolling at 417 yards, setting up a 72-yard flip wedge for an easy eagle. “There are two towers behind the green — I can’t even describe to you — they are like 250 or 200 yards right of where I’m trying to hit my drive,” Scheffler said. “And it’s crazy for him to be able to commit to that shot. “It was great. That was a good spark for us and good momentum for the rest of the day.” DeChambeau and Scheffler were poised for a 1-up victory until Hatton hit 5-iron into a hard left-to-right wind that landed near the hole and settled 7 feet away. He made the birdie putt to scratch out a halve and could only hope it was worth more. “Things like this can turn the tide,” Rahm said. After one day, it already feels like a strong tide, and that makes Saturday and another round of foursomes and fourballs more important than ever. Harrington also broke up all his pairings. This was the first time since the Ryder Cup was expanded to include all of Europe in 1979 that no one from the morning played together in the afternoon from either team. Cantlay and Schauffele were tough as ever in foursomes, which set the tone for the Americans. They were 5 up through five holes against McIlroy and Ian Poulter, and closed out their impressive 5-and-3 win with four straight birdies, the last one conceded. “I don’t know if anyone could have beat Xander and Patrick today,” McIlroy said. Only one shot went into the lake — a pull-hook from Tommy Fleetwood on the par-5 16th. And there almost was one player who went into Lake Michigan. That would be Jordan Spieth, facing an impossible shot beneath the 17th green with the ball on a severe slope in the morning round. He swung so hard with a 52-degree wedge that momentum sent him backward, scrambling to keep his footing and then running down toward the edge of the bank until he could get his balance. The shot? Remarkable as ever, plopping down 6 feet away. Thomas missed the par putt and the match was over. That was one of the few moments that didn’t go the American’s way.

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SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – European lynchpin Rory McIlroy has been benched at the Ryder Cup for the first time in his career after a dreadful Friday at Whistling Straits. RELATED: Full pairings, preview for Saturday morning Foursomes | Recap from Day 1 McIlroy was left out of Saturday mornings Foursomes pairings by Captain Padraig Harrington after two heavy and demoralizing defeats on the opening day. The 32-year-old lost 5 and 3 with Ian Poulter in Friday Foursomes against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay before backing up in Four-ball with Shane Lowry – only to be dominated 4 and 3 against Tony Finau and Harris English. It was the first time in his Ryder Cup career McIlroy had lost twice in one day. But he wasn’t the only European player to find the going tough with the U.S. taking a commanding 6-2 lead as they look to win the Cup back for just the second time in the last six attempts. McIlroy has played every possible session in his Ryder Cup career since making his debut in 2010. He did miss the second Four-ball session at Celtic Manor in Wales that year but only due to bad weather affecting play. Captains were forced to adjust on the run leaving players with a maximum of four sessions as the schedule condensed before a Monday finish. Despite the shellacking Harrington claimed the two-time FedExCup champion would bounce back and he had no concerns with McIlroy’s leadership. “He’s already a leader. You saw him out there after a tough day, he was out following those matches and supporting his team,” Harrington said. “He is very much a leader amongst his peers and I couldn’t have asked more from him during the year, I couldn’t have asked more from him today. “The golf didn’t go as well as he would have liked, but I’m not second-guessing him for a second in terms of his leadership and what he does for my team.” McIlroy found himself behind the eight-ball from the get-go and never recovered. Ryder Cup rookies in recent FedExCup champion Cantlay and Olympic Gold medalist Schauffele won the first five holes in their Foursomes encounter and despite a small lull mid round, came home with a vengeance. They birdied their last four holes to close out the match on the 15th. “The start wasn’t great. I don’t know if anyone could have beat Xander and Patrick today. They played really good,” McIlroy lamented. “They were a great pairing today, and all you can do is praise them for the way they played.” In the afternoon session McIlroy looked primed to turn his day around when an eagle at the par-5 5th produced a 1 up lead but it went pear-shaped from there. He failed to find a birdie from that point on and made two bogeys. Lowry could only manage a string of pars while Finau fired up. After driving the par-4 6th green to secure a birdie Finau added more on nine, 10 and 13 while English chimed in with one on the par-4 8th to rout the Irish/Northern Irish connection. “The last two sessions, Xander, Patrick, played wonderful, and I haven’t seen Tony putt as good as that in a long time,” McIlroy said. “When you have got a couple of pairs like that on form, on a difficult golf course where it’s sort of hard to make birdies and they go on runs, if you’re not quite a hundred percent on top of your game, it’s tough.” Despite the poor start McIlroy was still of the opinion Europe could stage a comeback. That effort will have to start without him though. “We can come back from 6-2. If it’s 6-2, we can come back,” he stressed.

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What’s happening on the first day of the Ryder Cup at Whislting Straits between the United States and Europe? We have you covered from first tee shot to final putt.

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How does 417 yards sound? On a par-5? The blast left him just 72 yards in and led to an eagle.

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