Boos, hisses, heckling, the New York crowd at Bethpage Black did not let Team Europe breathe freely. Still, their bid for a historic away Ryder Cup victory soon became obvious. In Friday Foursomes, Luke Donald’s team looked as aggressive as they seemed to enjoy the competition. And kicking off their title-defense campaign 2-0, they also made history by the third match as the pair of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood returned to stretch their foursomes lead from Rome (2023).

Paired against Collin Morikawa and Harris English, the European duo seized control from the very first hole. While not everything went as planned for the visitors, the recurring theme was Europe rebounding from mistakes and Team USA failing to take advantage of opportunities. For instance, at the fourth hole, McIlroy plugged the second shot in the bunker just in front of the green. The Americans had the chance to make it a match. However, Fleetwood chipped out to seven feet from the hole. Four holes later, the Europeans led 5-up.

Struggling to keep pace, Morikawa and English managed just one win on the 9th hole, with the other four halved. Then, giving another chance to the US to halve the point, McIlroy missed a putt to let English extend the match. But he pushed another putt wide. The McIlroy-Fleetwood duo, as a result, won 5&4. And according to Justin Ray, “McIlroy and Fleetwood win 5&4, the largest margin of victory in foursomes for an away pairing since 2004. Westwood/Clarke def. DiMarco/Haas 5&4 in 2004 Saturday foursomes.”

Almost two decades ago, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood also earned a 5&4 win over Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas at Oakland Hills. That triumph helped propel Europe to an emphatic 18.5–9.5 victory. Much like then, the U.S. side in 2025 found itself overwhelmed from the outset. Its chances of winning already dropped to 25% after the first hole and fell further as the round went on. As for the Team Europe duo, they stand 3-0 over the past two Ryder Cups together in foursomes.

“I think when you’ve got a partner like Tommy, you can play with so much freedom and so much trust in your game because you know you have someone that’s going to back you up,” McIlroy said after the match. “That’s the way I felt the two times we played in Rome and then today; foursomes can be a tough format. You can play a little tentatively with the way the format is, but again, knowing I have this man beside me, to bail me out if I do hit a bad shot, that’s very comforting to know.”

The loss reflected Morikawa’s performance struggle, which began with the Genesis Scottish Open. The golfer missed two consecutive cuts, and since then, his best finish has been T19 at the TOUR Championship. The Ryder Cup only deepened the slide. Alongside English, he failed to record a single birdie as the pair combined for nine bogeys. Europe, by contrast, stayed flawless, carding five birdies, nine pars, and no bogeys.

The Americans’ disappointment stretched beyond just this match, as similar struggles plagued the rest of the team. Meanwhile, the Europeans capitalized on every opening, leaving no doubt about who controlled the day.

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The first match started with Bryson DeChambeau-Justin Thomas playing against Jon Rahm-Tyrrell Hatton. Interestingly, the game started with the Americans’ dominance until the 7th hole, at which point JT and DeChambeau took the lead. But soon after that, the LIV duo came back with a bang. With wins on the 8th, 12th, 13th, and 15th holes, the Europeans took the win with four up. The prediction for DeChambeau turned true as the golfer failed to make an impact in the first match. Besides him, Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley faced the same fate.

The World No. 1 and 3 stood strong, as despite giving away the lead on the first hole, they fought back and kept the match tied till the third hole. But their efforts started to fade as Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick started to dominate. The European duo kept the momentum from the fourth hole by winning the 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th, 12th, and 15th holes to win the match 5&3.

This marks the second heartbreaking loss for Scheffler, coming at the hands of opponent Aberg. Moreover, Scheffler became the first world No. 1 to lose both his Friday matches since Tiger Woods in 2002. He is now 2-4-3 all-time in the Ryder Cup. In 2023, Aberg and Hovland won with a 9& 7 margin, marking the most significant victory in the history of the Ryder Cup. In fact, the loss left Scheffler in tears. However, apart from the three American duos, only Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay managed to avoid losing.

Schauffele and Cantlay, playing against Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland, kept the lead from the beginning. It felt like the American duo would bring the first win, but their 2-up lead couldn’t extend, and the match ended with a tie after 18 holes. The first day has ended like a rollercoaster as the American side struggled with all the foursome matches.

However, there is still hope with the upcoming four-ball matches. With Team Europe leading 5.5-2.5 entering Saturday, can Team USA redeem itself? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.