Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm dazzle for Team Europe during Ryder Cup first session – as Luke Donald’s side perform clean sweep on Day One
- Luke Donald’s Team Europe cruised to wins in the Ryder Cup’s opening matches
- Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm were particularly impressive for Team Europe
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off!
Team Europe put in a dominant display on the opening day of the Ryder Cup after they cruised to victories in the first four matches on Friday.
Luke Donald’s side put in a dazzling performance at the Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome to earn an early advantage over rivals Team USA.
Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm were, in particular, very impressive for Team Europe as they both chipped in in spectacular fashion throughout the course.
Rahm and partner Tyrrell Hatton had acquired the nickname of ‘Team Angry’ due to their fiery nature, but they were all smiles as they stormed to a 4&3 victory over world number one Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns in the first match.
The lead was soon doubled as Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg enjoyed victory over Open champion Brian Harman and Max Homa by the same margin at Marco Simone.
Viktor Hovland was in terrific form for Team Europe as they stormed to victory on Friday
Team Europe stormed the first day, after winning the opening four matches of the Ryder Cup
Rahm holed from 27 feet for birdie on the third and short range on the fifth, before hitting the pin with his tee shot on the par-three seventh to leave Hatton with a tap-in birdie.
The European pair looked set to lose the 10th until Rahm chipped in for an unlikely par and the Masters champion then drove the green on the short 11th and found the putting surface in two on the par-five 12th.
That led to a conceded eagle and the out-of-sorts American pair were put of their misery on the 15th.
‘Extremely satisfying. I had a good feeling about Tyrrell all along. It was good to come out here and see him perform the way he did,’ said Rahm.
‘It was an incredble foursome match and we played as confident as two people could play.’
Hatton added: ‘Tee to green I was generally fairly solid, naturally disappointed with some of the putts I missed, but ultimately we won our point and that was our goal.’
Following their success, Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka secured victory over Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa before Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood wrapped up a terrific day by beating top American duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Luke Donald (L) and Tyrell Hatton (R) chat during the opening day of the Ryder Cup
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