The 43rd Ryder Cup is finally upon us. A year after its postponement, we’ve endured that brutal extra Thursday of waiting (can we draft a petition to start this on Thursday?!); a brutal opening ceremony—and Day 1 is here.
(Scroll down for the latest updates)
Foursomes to start is a bold strategy for Team USA, with the Europeans edging the Americans in the alternate-shot format in nine of the past 13 Ryder Cups. But the U.S. jump out to leads in 2012 and 2016 with foursomes to start—so we’ll see if Steve Stricker’s decision pays off.
The first match will certainly help set the tone for the day: Sergio Garcia, who has earned 25.5 points in his Ryder Cup career, which is more than the entire American team combined, is paired with the World No. 1 Jon Rahm. If this is truly a new era for the Americans, their strongest team — Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth — will try to take down the strongest side for the Euros.
Match 1, 8:05 a.m (EDT): Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia vs. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth
Match 2, 8:21 a.m.: Paul Casey and Viktor Hovland vs. Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa
Match 3, 8:37 a.m.: Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick vs. Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger
Match 4, 8:53 a.m.: Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter vs. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele
Ryder Cup 2021 latest updates (all times eastern):
8:35 a.m.: That’s a huge couple minutes for Team USA. Dustin Johnson hit a sensational shot on the first hole to about 10 feet from the upslope in the rough, and Collin Morikawa buried the birdie putt to put the U.S. one up in the second match. (Paul Casey nearrrrrly holed a lengthy birdie try.)
Then Justin Thomas holed his 7-footer for birdie on the par-5 second hole to go 1-up through 2 in their match after Sergio Garcia hit a poor second shot.
Early advantage: Team USA.
8:25 a.m.: The second match of the day is off—European veteran Paul Casey finds the fairway while U.S. rookie Collin Morikawa finds the rough in front of the fairway bunker at No. 1. Early advantage here to the Europeans—with two extremely talented rookies (Viktor Hovland) in this match squared up against two of the Ryder Cups older players.
8:10 a.m.: It took 1,090 days from when the Europeans celebrated their 2018 win at Le Golf National until the first tee shots were hit at Whistling Straits—but here we are. The Ryder Cup is officially underway with the tone-setting first match of the day (Jon Rahm/Sergio Garcia vs. Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth).
Sergio hit first for the Europeans and found a bunker off the tee, whereas JT striped one down the middle.
Sergio nearlyyyy chipped in for birdie to win the first hole for the Europeans, then JT powered his putt to win the hole through the break. They’re all square after the first hole between Thomas/Spieth and Rahm/Sergio. Off we go!
Here are the pin positions for Day 1 at Whistling Straits:
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