Getty Image / Jamie Squire
If you’re a normal person and didn’t wake up at 1:30AM ET to watch the first day of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, you missed a complete disaster for Team USA.
The American men got absolutely worked by Team Europe on Friday. They came out and lost the morning session 4-0 in an absolute blowout by the Europeans. And, a disastrous end to the afternoon session saw the USA fall even further behind, trailing 6 1/2 to 1 1/2 after day one.
As bad as the score was, the golf may have been even more demoralizing to watch. The Americans won just ten holes in the first four matches of the day, compared to twenty-two for Europe. Team USA didn’t lead in a single hole for an entire session in any of the matches!
After some lineup changes, the USA looked like they were going to cut into the European lead and salvage something out of day one. The USA led three matches heading to the 18th hole in the afternoon session. They didn’t win any of them. It was an astonishing collapse that saw Europe and captain Luke Donald win the second session 2 1/2 to 1 1/2.
Coming into the event, most oddsmakers had the event as more-or-less a tossup. So, while it’s not shocking to see team USA, who hasn’t won on European soil in 30 years, it is shocking to see them get blown out this badly on the first day of a Ryder Cup.
Not to worry, though. USA’s fearless leader Zach Johnson knows just what the issue is. The team is simply battling illness.
Zach Johnson alluded to there being a health issue of some sort affecting the U.S. team…potentially a stomach bug it seems. "We're fighting things internally…Guys are fighting and playing regardless." Didn't elaborate but implied it was affecting both players and caddies.
— Will Gray (@WillGrayGolfbet) September 29, 2023
I’m not saying that doesn’t matter. But, at a certain point, you’ve got to start getting it done at overseas Ryder Cups. And, it doesn’t look like this is going to be the team that does it.