Jon Rahm leads familiar faces starring on Ryder Cup Day 1 for Europe

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Jon Rahm got partner Tyrrell Hatton out of trouble from the rough in the morning and ruled the greens in the afternoon.

As Europe relies on familiar pairings and its most dependable players at the Ryder Cup, Rahm was on the leading edge of getting his team off to a strong start, leading 5 1/2-2 1/2. He made seven birdie putts from 8-plus feet on Friday and improved to 8-1-3 in Ryder Cup play dating to his defeat of Tiger Woods in singles in Paris in 2018.

“I can’t take all the credit — I’ve had really good partners,” Rahm said. “Tyrrell has been a fantastic partner (and) Sepp has done his thing. We can’t lose alone. It’s a team. I’ve been fortunate to have really good teammates.”

Many of his teammates came up big, too. Like Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood contributed to Europe picking up two points on Day 1 by winning foursomes with partner Rory McIlroy and then again in fourballs with Justin Rose.

“The scoreboard is what counts,” Fleetwood said. “I think just our team as a collective, I think we obviously feel very prepared, and we’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time now.”

Prepared like captain Luke Donald hoped they’d be. Donald did not quite run it back with the exact lineup that won in Rome in 2023, but kept the Rahm-Hatton and “Fleetwood Mac” duo of Fleetwood and McIlroy together for foursomes.

Donald liked his pairings so much he’s going with the same four Saturday for morning foursomes.

“We have a lot of great players and a lot of great partnerships,” Fleetwood said. “As a team, there’s a lot of continuity there.”

Fleetwood and McIlroy rolled past Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5 and 4. Rahm and Hatton rallied from a rough first few holes to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas 4 and 3.

Eliciting the sing-song “Ole! Ole! Ole!” chants from fans waiting at the 18th hole they didn’t come close to needing, Rahm’s and Hatton’s mutual admiration more than ran its course.

“This man is a joy to be partnered with,” Rahm said. “We spend a lot of time together and he can be very, very dependable when things get going difficult. I have full confidence every single time, and just glad we were able to get it done.”

DeChambeau and Thomas were 1 up through five when Hatton’s tee shot went left and into the rough. Rahm chipped his second shot to around three feet, and they halved the hole.

“Jon hit an amazing recovery shot,” Hatton said. “I don’t think anyone thought that we’d be putting second.”

They tied it on No. 7 after Hatton rescued them by hitting a shot through trees with a stick a mere inches in front of his ball. They went 1 up on No. 8 and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.

“We didn’t have our best start during the first seven holes, (but) we battled, we stayed in it and from then on we started hitting good shots and getting really positive vibes,” Rahm said.

Returning 11 of the 12 players who won at Marco Simone two years ago, Donald split up Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg , putting them with new partners. Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick beat Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley, while Hovland and Robert MacIntyre lost to Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

By juggling things a bit, Donald may have found a new winning combination. Asked about beating Scheffler, the top-ranked player in the world, Åberg said: “I had a great partner. I think that speaks to it.”

Donald is leaning on his previous playing partnership with Sergio Garcia as part of his thinking of matching personalities.

“Foursomes, it’s a little bit more of a team, isn’t it?” Donald said. “I mean, you have to rely on your teammate even more.”

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