By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Bryson DeChambeau brought panache to the Ryder Cup. Europe delivered the points.
Bethpage Black hardly lived up to its rowdy reputation in a subdued start Friday to these contentious matches. Europe was largely responsible for that by taking big leads in the opening three matches and nearly getting another clean sweep in foursomes.
All that saved the Americans from an even deeper hole than 3-1 was Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, and even that was a chore. They lost a 3-up lead through 11 holes and had to battle to the 18th hole to secure the point.
“It’s not exactly what we wanted, but we know the Ryder Cup is going to be ebbs and flows, and I’ve got a lot of faith in our boys,” U.S. captain Keegan Bradley said.
The Americans had a 1-up lead in that anchor match through 14 holes when they walked under a huge U.S. flag and across Old Swamp Road, just in time for Air Force One to fly low over the 15th fairway with President Donald Trump on his way to the Ryder Cup.
It was an amazing scene, and Europeans could only look to the blue sky and smile at the spectacle of the first sitting U.S. president at this event.
Not that it shook them any. They looked in control, as usual, especially on the scoreboard.
DeChambeau won the first hole with a 344-yard drive over the trees that riled up a massive grandstand that was filled two hours before the start. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton took it from there in a 4-and-3 victory for the first point.
Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick, already 3 up through six holes, lost only two holes as they sailed to a 5-and-3 win over Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley. Scheffler, the No. 1 player in golf, now has gone five straight Ryder Cup matches without winning a full point.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood — the famous “Fleetwood Mac” pairing from Rome — delivered another decisive point and didn’t even cross Old Swamp Road. They ended it on the par-3 14th against outmatched Harris English and Collin Morikawa.
Trump arrived just before the afternoon fourballs began, the Americans in dire need of not falling too far behind. They already had dug a hole. Only two teams in the current format dating to 1979 have come back from a 3-1 deficit in the opening session.
Bradley walked alone up the 15th fairway, listening to a few New York fans call out, “You should have played.” He had contemplated being the first playing captain in the Ryder Cup since 1963.
The crowd only got loud at the end when Cantlay and Schauffele, all square against Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland, won a nail-biter. MacIntyre had to back off his tee shot on the 17th when one fan yelled out “Hit the ball!” to the notoriously slow Scotsman.
The fans cheered loudly when MacIntyre missed a 9-foot par putt to fall 1 down, and they booed Europe on the 18th.
Otherwise, it was relatively quiet except for pockets of cheers from Europeans in their yellow and blue, cheering big putts by Hatton and Fitzpatrick, and Fleetwood’s tee shot into 6 feet on the par-3 eighth that led to birdie and a 5-up lead.
This wasn’t what Bradley had in mind when he showed up 90 minutes before the opening shot, grabbed a microphone to address the crowd and said, “Let’s (expletive) go, boys!”
The chanting and singing so typical of the start at the Ryder Cup was flat and somewhat disconnected, one side of the grandstands starting one cheer while the other had something else going.
And it was vulgar at times, particularly when McIlroy was shown on the video board warming up on the range. Even during regular play on this New York public course, the most common four-letter word in golf that starts with “F” is not fore.
All that lusty cheering for DeChambeau and Justin Thomas didn’t last long. There was little to cheer for so much of the morning.
European captain Luke Donald had his team play three-hole matches ahead of Rome to inspire a fast start. They swept the opening session at Marco Simone and never looked back. That seemed to work at Bethpage Black, too.
“I think we talk about fast starts a lot,” Fleetwood said. “Luke has always drilled that into us since being captain, and that’s what you want to do. That’s the ideal.”