Europe produced their first clean sweep of the opening session in their Ryder Cup history here in Rome on Friday morning.
The whitewash put the hosts into a commanding position as they bid to extend their 30-year winning record on home soil.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, the so-called ‘Team Angry’ of Europe, proved a formidable pairing to finish on six-under par for a 4&3 victory over world No1 Scottie Scheffler and a misfiring Sam Burns for the first European point on the board.
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Rahm, who was near perfect, said: “I’ve had a good feeling about Tyrrell all along. It was good to come out here and see him perform the way he did. We played as confident as two people can. It was a beautiful morning.”
Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg won by the same margin against Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman, the so-called Butcher of Hoylake.
Along with Rahm, Hovland was the pick of the European players, his all-round game eventually rubbing off on his inexperienced playing partner, who sank three hole-winning putts to find his way into the match.
The unexpected duo of Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka gave Europe a 3-0 lead despite seeing a four-hole advantage halved by Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa in a 2&1 victory.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood found themselves locked in the only really tight match of the morning with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, the neighbours and close friends who had never previously lost a Ryder Cup match together.
The experienced European duo moved into the lead as early as the fourth hole and, while they were never out of the lead, the advantage ebbed between one or two holes until a delighted Fleetwood sunk the winning putt on the 17th.
