Keegan Bradley gives the simple reason why Europe dominated day one at the Ryder Cup

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Keegan Bradley and his American players have a lot of work to do if they are to have any chance of winning the Ryder Cup back from Team Europe.

With day one of the Ryder Cup in the books, Bradley will be a very concerned man, with European captain Luke Donald getting all of the big decisions absolutely spot on.

Scottie Scheffler’s poor form summed up the Americans’ struggles on day one at Bethpage Black.

However, Team USA’s problems ran far deeper than the world number one’s struggles.

US Ryder Cup captain Bradley made a whole host of bizarre decisions on day one in Long Island, and the Europeans ruthlessly took advantage of that.

However, what did the man himself think was the key difference-maker on Friday?

Keegan Bradley gives the reason why Europe dominated day one at the Ryder Cup

Bradley looked genuinely worried when the players in the final match of the day left the 18th green.

It’s little wonder why he might be concerned. Europe lead 5.5-2.5 after the first day’s action and it already seems like the United States have a huge mountain to climb.

The 39-year-old from Vermont was asked by reporters to sum up day one at the Ryder Cup.

He said: “The boys played really well this afternoon. Europe made a lot of putts. Happy with the way we are playing and hopefully it will turn to our putts going in tomorrow.“

In response to the half point earned by Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns in the final match of the day, Bradley shared the pride he felt in his players.

He said: “It was big but we have only played 28% of the points. It’s the first quarter. We still have three quarters to go. I have a lot of faith in my boys.“

Bradley is either protecting his players or he’s delusional. The European players were far superior to Team USA in every single department on day one, not just on the greens.

USA vs Europe strokes gained during Ryder Cup four-balls

The strokes gained stats from the Friday afternoon fourballs make for really interesting reading.

Despite the fact that the Europeans won the afternoon session, four of the top seven players in strokes gained total were Americans.

In some ways, that just goes to prove that stats mean little, especially in highly pressurized situations like the Ryder Cup.

The Americans need to turn up on Saturday morning and fire back at the Europeans.

If Donald’s men bring their ‘A’ games again, though, it could be curtains for Bradley and his players.