Team Europe’s Friday went about as well as they’d dare to dream at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Europe ended the day leading 5 ½ – 2 ½, winning both foursomes and fourball sessions and handing two losses to Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau. Jon Rahm stole the show with phenomenal performances to earn two points for Europe.
Much was made of the Ryder Cup crowd at Bethpage Black before the tournament. It was supposed to be America’s deciding advantage. But the home support haven’t bared their teeth early in the tournament.
Europe’s players look largely comfortable on the course despite playing on foreign soil, and captain Luke Donald spoke about how his players are handling the environment.
Luke Donald says Europe are drawing off the European presence in Ryder Cup crowd
The first tee at Bethpage was predicted to be so deafening that Donald used VR headsets to acclimate his players. In the end, it wasn’t necessary. The home crowd was so quiet, Europe’s fans broke into chants of “Is this a library?” on Friday morning.
There were constant heckles thrown at Europe’s players, but it was nothing they weren’t expecting or knew how to deal with. They were able to block out the noise and make big shots down the stretch of the afternoon session.
When asked about how his team was coping with the away fans, Donald said he was proud of the way they were tackling the environment.
He said: “They thrive. It’s not easy out here. It’s loud. The crowd is certainly on the U.S. side, but we have some crowd support as well, which is fun. So they’re drawing off that.
“What can I say, I’m so proud of these guys. They know how to handle all of that.”
Donald brought 11 of the 12 players who played in Rome in 2023 to Bethpage Black, and that’s looking like a wise decision. Experience is key, as demonstrated by Ludvig Aberg and Rasmus Hojgaard, Donald’s only inexperienced pairing on Friday. They lost badly to Justin Thomas and Cameron Young.
Donald knows he can trust his veterans, so expect them to feature heavily in Saturday’s play.
Europe’s experience wins them Ryder Cup Friday
Donald went for tried and tested on Friday. The morning featured Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton going off first, and McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood third. Those were two successful pairings from Rome, and both took home hard-earned points in foursomes.
And it was Europe’s experienced leaders paving the way in the afternoon. Fleetwood went out with Rose in fourball, who drained clutch putts on the back-nine to hand DeChambeau his second loss of the day.
Rahm, the LIV Golf individual champion, shrugged off both DeChambeau and Scheffler on Friday. Meanwhile, McIlroy put Shane Lowry on his back to secure a half-point in the final match of the day.
There’s a reason Donald brought back his guys. He knows he can trust them. That’s why he’s visibly more relaxed on the course than Keegan Bradley, who brought four rookies to Bethpage.
It could prove the difference as Europe are in the driver’s seat for an away Ryder Cup win.
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