Ryder Cup highlights: How European big guns shone as US stars flopped plus what to expect on day two

It was exactly the start that Luke Donald, the European captain, had been hoping for in his bid to land a first win for the visitors on US soil since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ 13 years ago.

In contrast, Team USA captain Keegan Bradley is already on the back foot after seeing his top players underperform, much to the disgust of the home fans who have forked out $750 for tickets this week.

How the day unfolded

The morning atmosphere was nowhere near as hostile for the Europeans as people had expected and, for the first time in the event’s history, the visitors won the top three matches in an opening session on US soil. Three big wins as well, with Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood taking up where they’d left off in Rome two years ago while Ludvig Aberg was partly responsible again for Scottie Scheffler suffering a heavy loss. It was much closer in the afternoon but, yet again, the star men for Europe delivered while their US counterparts didn’t.

Who was the star man

It’s a toss up between Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood, both of whom recorded a brace of victories. Rahm just loves this stage and played brilliantly alongside both Tyrrell Hatton and Sepp Straka but Fleetwood, who looks to be walking ten-feet tall since winning for the first time over here in the Tour Championship last month, gets the nod for his performances in the company of McIlroy in the morning then Justin Rose in the afternoon as the English duo teamed up in this event for the first time.

Who had a bad day

It was a disastrous day for world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who came into this week on the back of another incredible season on the PGA Tour but had an absolute stinker. He’s now gone six games without a win in this contest and has now suffered two absolute drubbings in his last two foursome outings.

What was the crowd like

Though a chorus of “Fuck you, Rory” was uncalled for before the opening shot was hit just after 7am, the fans weren’t as bad as people had expected in the morning before the atmosphere turned somewhat nasty at times. McIlroy was the main target and he’d clearly had enough at one point, giving a one-finger gesture to someone as he came off a green on the back nine.

Funny moment

Patrick Cantlay may be wearing a hat this week after deciding not to do so and claiming it was because he couldn’t get one to fit, though it was claimed, of course, that it was a protest over players not being paid by the PGA of America to compete in the match. Standing two down on the eighth tee in the afternoon session, a European fan suggested to Cantlay that he might play better if he removed his hat and, after hitting a great tee shot there, opponent Shane Lowry couldn’t resist the opportunity to take his hat off and wave it to the crowd, which proved very amusing indeed.

What to expect on Day 2 and 3

While the US media were astonished with Bradley’s decision to stick with Collin Morikawa and Harrish English in particular for the second-day foursomes but perhaps Scheffler and Russell Henley as well, the Americans will be aiming to reduce the deficit on day two and then come out with all guns blazing in the last-day singles. More of the same from the Europeans, though, and they could be in a very strong position indeed heading into Sunday’s concluding session.