Justin Rose pinpoints his ‘best moment’ of Ryder Cup day one as he admits Tommy Fleetwood carried him

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Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood helped Europe to an excellent start to the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

Rose did not play in the foursomes session on Friday morning before teaming up with his compatriot in the afternoon fourballs.

However, Fleetwood was already full of confidence after winning his match with Rory McIlroy 5&4 against Collin Morikawa and Harris English.

Fleetwood and Rose then defeated the USA’s most passionate duo, Bryson DeChambeau and Ben Griffin, 1up to continue in the same vein.

Rose enjoyed one incredible moment on the front nine, but he admitted that Fleetwood was by far the better player.

• READ MORE: Sepp Straka reveals what Jon Rahm told him when he was really struggling during 3&2 Ryder Cup win on day one

Justin Rose reflects on fourball victory with Tommy Fleetwood

Rose made the putt to win the point for Team Europe, but that was not his “moment” of the football match.

The 45-year-old was more proud of his long putt on the seventh hole in response to Ben Griffin’s 60-footer.

Besides that, Fleetwood did most of the heavy lifting on their way to winning Europe’s fifth match of the competition.

“Rome ’23. The sun is going down on Friday afternoon on the 18th hole, and that one was for Tommy that time, not the rest of the team. He carried me today,” Rose reflected with Sky Sports.

“I felt like I put the ball in play nicely off the tee, but Tommy made some huge putts in the right moments, and you know, that was a huge turnaround match.

“Obviously, I think my moment of the day, I guess, was on seven when Ben holed that 60-footer, and I was able to pour it in from 40 feet to not go two down. I felt that it kept us in the match.

“We knew we were coming into a difficult stretch of holes. The first few holes were playing somewhat easy, and then the course showed its teeth a little bit, and that’s where Tommy’s ball-striking and our resolve really came through.”

The stats prove Justin Rose’s claim about Tommy Fleetwood

Data Golf’s statistics prove Rose’s claim that Fleetwood carried him in their fourball victory on Friday afternoon. 

Both Fleetwood and Rose were solid on the putting greens, but that is the only strokes gained category where they both performed well.

Tommy Fleetwood vs Justin Rose strokes gained stats

Fleetwood was better than Rose around the greens, and the biggest difference was in their iron play at Bethpage Black.

Nobody gained more strokes with approach shots than Fleetwood on Friday, and only Matt Fitzpatrick gained more across the board.