Three sets of partner matches have been completed, and the host side is determined to finish this exhibition before the singles matches arrive on Sunday. The European team needs five more points to take the trophy, and four points are at stake in the Saturday afternoon matches. Although it’s mathematically impossible to make five out of four, that’s the only thing that has seemed impossible for this dogged group of continental golfers. Getting as close to the magical 14.5 points is their goal, and Team USA needs to play its best golf or the outcome will be all but concluded. Perhaps it was the magical, practice-round ace on a par four by Hovland that cast the spell; certainly something has this host squadron playing with an enviable resolution. Let’s see how we arrived at this point with a midway, Ryder Cup Rundown.

Day One @ Morning Foursomes: Table for Four

In the alternate-shot competition, synchronicity and symbiosis need arrive to a dangerous balance, or a pairing will founder. The Blue side never saw the 18th tee on day one’s opening matches; it didn’t need to. Europe won all four matches on the penultimate green or earlier, and the Red team quickly found itself in a four-point hole. Leading the way were Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, who were the subject of a comical curse-off debate, with Hatton affirming that he was the greater swearer of the two, despite Rahm’s fluency in three languages (don’t forget Euskera.) They dispatched Scheffler and Burns, who won but one hole, by a 4 & 3 tally.

Jon Rahm delivering the goods for Team Europe ? #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/n7WE13usx9

— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 29, 2023

Next came the partnership of Hovland and Aberg, and it was the ebullient Norwegian and the young Austrian who came out on top. Their opponents, Max Homa and Brian Harman, were never in the match past hole six. The first sextet of holes were all won, four by the hosts and two by the visitors. None was more dramatic than the from-the-green chip-in by Hovland, on the opening putting surface. The match settled down thereafter, with Europe playing solid golf and adding two more wins to claim the match, 4 & 3.

First hole. First roar!

Viktor Hovland's chip on the first hole this morning sent Marco Simone wild ?@Citi | #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/hcQZI6jdp1

— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 29, 2023

Matches three and four were more competitive, with the California duo of Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa matched against Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka, while the previously-unbeatable partnership of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay took on the European veteran power couple of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. Many myths were turned into dust on the first morning, and these two matches were no different. Lowry and Straka were four hole up by the turn, and while Cali fought back, it could only gain back two holes, falling on the 17th green. The morning’s fourth match was even closer, with Europe taking a two-hole lead by the eighth green, but America making a resolute charge back, winning the ninth. The inward half saw five holes won, against three halved. Three of those wins were European, and thus was the match also decided by the penultimate green.

Rickie Fowler draining it ??? #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/jDnBMhsDTK

— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 29, 2023

Day One @ Afternoon Four-ball: The halves and the halve-not

If the morning was a scorcher, the afternoon was an oddity. The visiting side had an opportunity to win each of the first three matches on the final hole at Marco Simone, and it failed each time. Hovland and Hatton matched games with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, both of whom sat out the morning competition. Each pairing won four holes, with Europe claiming the last won, at hole 16. The closing two holes were halved, and Europe escaped with a critical, half-point against the USA’s formidable bromance.

OUTCOME IQ Match of the Day ?

Fleetwood & McIlroy win 2&1 after starting with a 43% win probability ??@Capgemini | #EveryShotMatters pic.twitter.com/cDOHvR2lui

— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 29, 2023

Next up was the battle of Rahm and Nikolai Højgaard (the later making his Ryder Cup debut) and Scheffler and Brooks Koepka (the first LIV golfer to compete in these matches.) Again was the battle joined, and this one saw each side claim five holes from the opposition. All square at the 15th tee, it was USA going one-up, the Europe winning 16. Next, the USA claimed 17, but Europe responded to steal back a half point and take a 5-1 lead into match three.

Justin Rose made THIS putt at the last as Team Europe went undefeated on day one. #RyderCup pic.twitter.com/mNW8TduEfY

— Ryder Cup (@rydercup) September 29, 2023

As if more drama was need, well, it came. The American duo of Homa and Wyndham Clark (another first-time appearance) wrestled with Robert MacIntyre (first-ever for him) and Justin Rose (first this year for him) and It was apparent that Homa-Clark were out for blood. They claimed four of the first 14 holes, and stood two to the good on the 15th tee. They even won the 16th hole, but somehow, only gained a half point. Yup, Europe won 15, 17, and 18, to commit the greatest heist of 2023. At this juncture, every half point means the world, and the Bluo (blue duo) let a large one slip away.

After those matches, the fourth was a disappointment, unless you like to acknowledge that Rory McIlroy has placed this team on his back and is carrying it to the podium. Mac and Fitz (Matt Fitzpatrick got on course) throttled another California pairing (Morikawa and Schauffele) by a 5 & 3 tally. The European side committed the incomprehensible shock of claiming holes two through seven, to jump out to a 6-up lead with eleven to play. No one in their right mind actually believed that all eleven holes would be played, so the betting had to base itself on how long could the West Coast stay alive. X and C made it to the 15th green, winning holes and 11 and 12 to salvage some pride, before Mac and Fitz put them away with one final birdie.

Day Two @ Morning Foursomes: Mor(ning) of the same

Down by 6.5 to 1.5, Team USA needed some sort of statement, with the possibility of recouping four points and closing the margin to one, a distinct possibility. Well, it was a distinct possibility for about one minute. McIlroy and Fleetwood went out first this time, and promptly won the first three holes, to set the tone. Team USA won six holes during the match, but Team EURO never let up. Mac and Fleet claimed another five holes, including the decisive 17th, to win the match by 2 & 1. By this point, even the most ardent westerner had to sense that something was afoot.

However, if hope was still in the offing, along came Hovland and Aberg again, and what they did was simply insulting. They won nine of the first eleven holes against Scheffler and Koepka, and denied the American duo even a single won hole. That’s right: Hovland and Aberg took the match by a tally of 9 & 7, possibly sending the Americans deep into a funk that required a bit of meditation and self-therapy. That was the largest winning margin in Ryder Cup history.

Just a reminder that Ludvig Åberg only turned professional in June…?#TeamEurope | @RyderCupEurope pic.twitter.com/o0580rI2i6

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 30, 2023

Match three finally saw the visitors play as they should. Max Homa and Brian Harman were strong through the middle of the round, winning hole 8, 10, 11, and 12. This took them to a three-up advantage over Lowry and Straka, and Blue then claimed the 16th to win by 4 & 2. To this juncture, the matches had been a series of runs, and each of those had been three- and four-hole wins by the hosts.

The final match of day two’s morning tilts featured the Brothers Curse, Rahm and Hatton. Eschewing vulgarities, the pair jumped out to a three-up lead through eight, then gave away four of the next six holes (winning one) before surging back at the end to win 16 and 17, along with a 2 & 1 match victory. Try as they might, Cantlay and Schauffele turned one again into Can’t Play and Look Away and lost a crucial point when they were on the verge of winning it.

Jon Rahm delivering yet again ?#TeamEurope | @RyderCupEurope

pic.twitter.com/vl88ZT95k9

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 30, 2023

Summary Verdict: It doesn’t look good, or it looks great

It’s all about perspective. Captain Zach Johnson suggested that Team USA was a bit under the weather physically. If that’s the case, bad luck. One cannot argue that Team EURO has played inspired and spectacular golf. It teams better than any golf group on the earth, and that’s bad news for their opponents. Team USA has always played well in singles, and it will need to claim at least eight matches on Sunday to have any chance of cup retention. Stay tuned!