Paris: The United States stormed to a 3-1 lead after the opening Ryder Cup fourballs here Friday as the young generation made their mark while Tiger Woods again failed to deliver in golf’s flagship biennial team event.
In front of huge, noisy crowds at the event being held in France for the first time, the US got the first point on the board early as World No.1 Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler won 4 and 2 against an out-of-sorts Rory McIlroy and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Tony Finau took advantage of a huge slice of luck on the 16th as he and Brooks Koepka came from two down to beat Justin Rose and Jon Rahm on the 18th in the first game out.
In an absorbing third match Jordan Spieth’s putter was on fire as he hauled Justin Thomas to a three-hole lead at the turn. However, Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton won three in a row to make it level after 14, only for the Americans to win one-up.
Woods, returning after missing the last two events and on the back of his first Tour victory for five years, was the biggest draw for the huge crowds at Le Golf National. He claimed a nice birdie two on the second but never really got going as he and Patrick Reed lost 3-up to Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood after the Englishman landed two huge putts to win the 15th and 16th to swing the match.
