Europe makes statement, dominates Team USA in first day of Ryder Cup at Bethpage

James O'Connell, New York Daily News on Sep 26, 2025

Published in Golf

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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Things went south very quickly for Team USA on Friday at the Ryder Cup.

The Long Island crowd at Bethpage Black was as rowdy as anticipated, with chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A” ringing throughout the large grandstand over the first tee and 18th green. The first tee shot belonged to Jon Rahm, who quickly received screams of “fore right” as his drive sailed way beyond the fairway before Bryson DeChambeau electrified the crowd by nearly driving the first green.

It went just as U.S. captain Keegan Bradley drew it up — for about an hour.

Then, the Europeans came along and slapped the U.S. back to reality, dominating to take three of the four matches to make an early statement in the first day of the 45th Ryder Cup, winning 5.5 of eight available points for the day.

DeChambeau and Justin Thomas hoped to open the tournament with a bang for the Americans as two fan favorites and the most fiery personalities wearing red, white and blue. However, Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton remained undefeated as a Ryder Cup duo, finishing the match on the 15th hole to win 4 & 3. DeChambeau won the very first hole by walking in a medium-length putt to jump-start the Bethpage atmosphere; however, that would be the only hole they’d win the entire match.

DeChambeau didn’t win a single match Friday as he also lost the afternoon fourball session, paired with Ben Griffin. Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose surged on the back nine and halved the 18th hole to secure their one-up victory. However, Thomas bounced back, defeating Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Højgaard 6 & 5, alongside Cameron Young.

The most disappointing performance from Bradley’s squad was world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler and world No. 3 Russell Henley were dominated by Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick and didn’t even allow much of a fight. Scheffler and Henley went down on the first hole and couldn't recover. The pair won the second hole to even it up, but they went four down entering the back nine and fell 5 & 3.

Then, Scheffler and U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun were beaten handily by Rahm and Sepp Straka in the afternoon session. Scheffler seemingly couldn’t get going all day, missing plenty of opportunities to get points on the board.

Bradley’s two top players — DeChambeau and Scheffler — being unable to earn a point was detrimental on the first day.

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay bailed the Americans out to gain a point, avoiding a potential bloodbath — despite nearly choking away a two-up lead walking onto the 13th tee. With the match all square on the 17th tee, Robert MacIntyre’s tee shot landed in the front greenside bunker before Schauffele riffled an 8-iron to about 20 feet, setting Cantlay up for a good look at birdie.

The Americans were in safe for par, however, Viktor Hovland’s bunker shot left MacIntyre a reasonable look to halve the hole, but he missed, giving Team USA a one-hole lead that they finished off on the 18th hole.

Cantlay was responsible for 1.5 of USA’s points on Friday as he and Sam Burns managed to push the afternoon match against Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry.

Collin Morikawa and Harris English played the role of sacrificial lamb in the morning against arguably Europe’s strongest duo in McIlroy and Fleetwood. The Europeans took the bull by the horns, winning five of the first eight holes before eventually going on to win 5 & 4.

Now, Bradley must get back to the drawing board for Saturday’s sessions before the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ is quickly joined by the ‘Bloodbath at Bethpage.’