GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy – For the first time in the Ryder Cup, the U.S. team was swept in the first session and found themselves trailing 4-0. But the Americans didn’t sound as if they’re in panic mode.
“It was just the first go-around here. We’ll have to make some adjustments across the board. We’ll be fine. Not sweating it,” said Xander Schauffele, who lost his early foursome match paired with Patrick Cantlay. “I’m not worried. Our team is deep. These boys will come out hungry these next matches.”
The U.S. team was overwhelmed early at Marco Simone with none of the four alternate-shot matches making it to the 18th hole. The U.S. had won the last four Friday opening sessions, including a 4-0 sweep in 2016 when the American team went on to win 17-11.
“Match play is all about not giving up holes, and we just gave up too many. We each had a few kind of poor shots and just weren’t able to capitalize when we had our chances. That’s match play,” said Collin Morikawa, who lost his foursomes match paired with Rickie Fowler. “Giving away holes is the worst feeling, and we just did that too much.”