Yanks' opening 6-2 lead at Ryder Cup could've been bigger
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Captain Steve Stricker's young squad patiently built the biggest U.S. opening-day lead since 1975, pummeling defending champion Europe in both the foursomes and fourball matches Friday for a 6-2 cushion.
Captain Steve Stricker's young squad patiently built the biggest U.S. opening-day lead since 1975, pummeling defending champion Europe in both the foursomes and fourball matches Friday for a 6-2 cushion. While the fast start wasn't new -- the U.S. team has gone seven straight Ryder Cups without losing the opening session -- the solid finish was.
"My message to the guys before I left," Stricker said, "is, `tomorrow is a new day. Let's just go out tomorrow and try to win that first session again ... Pretend today never happened."
That would have been a lot harder for his team had things not worked out as well as they did.
The one swing from that trio of spectacular shots that actually paid a dividend was a towering 417-yard drive by Bryson DeChambeau at the par-5 5th. Rather than play the 581-yard hole as a dogleg right, the way it was designed, the game's longest hitter chose the straightest route. In three previous PGA Championships at Whistling Straits, no one had dared to try and cross the large pond and the grassy ridge pockmarked with pot bunkers that guard the right side.
