FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 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 , Rahm was on the leading edge of getting his team , 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.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 take all the credit 鈥 I鈥檝e had really good partners,鈥 Rahm said. 鈥淭yrrell has been a fantastic partner (and) Sepp has done his thing. We can鈥檛 lose alone. It鈥檚 a team. I鈥檝e been fortunate to have really good teammates.鈥
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 and then again in fourballs with Justin Rose.
鈥淭he scoreboard is what counts,鈥 Fleetwood said. 鈥淚 think just our team as a collective, I think we obviously feel very prepared, and we鈥檝e been looking forward to this day for a long time now.鈥
Prepared like captain Luke Donald hoped they’d be. Donald did with the exact lineup that in 2023, but kept the Rahm-Hatton and 鈥淔leetwood Mac鈥 duo of Fleetwood and McIlroy together for foursomes.
Donald liked his pairings so much he鈥檚 going with the same four Saturday for morning foursomes.
鈥淲e have a lot of great players and a lot of great partnerships,鈥 Fleetwood said. 鈥淎s a team, there鈥檚 a lot of continuity there.鈥
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 鈥淥le! Ole! Ole!鈥 chants from fans waiting at the 18th hole they didn鈥檛 come close to needing, Rahm’s and Hatton鈥檚 mutual admiration more than ran its course.
鈥淭his man is a joy to be partnered with,鈥 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.鈥
DeChambeau and Thomas were 1 up through five when Hatton鈥檚 tee shot went left and into the rough. Rahm chipped his second shot to around three feet, and they halved the hole.
鈥淛on hit an amazing recovery shot,鈥 Hatton said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone thought that we鈥檇 be putting second.鈥
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.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 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,鈥 Rahm said.
Returning 11 of the 12 players who won at Marco Simone two years ago, Donald split up Viktor Hovland and Ludvig 脜berg , putting them with new partners. 脜berg 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, 脜berg said: 鈥淚 had a great partner. I think that speaks to it.鈥
Donald is leaning on his previous playing partnership with Sergio Garcia as part of his thinking of matching personalities.
鈥淔oursomes, it鈥檚 a little bit more of a team, isn鈥檛 it?鈥 Donald said. 鈥淚 mean, you have to rely on your teammate even more.鈥
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