FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Rory McIlroy waited two years to play again with Tommy Fleetwood at a Ryder Cup. It took mere minutes for them to look like the perfect teammates again.
They weren’t the only ones. Jon Rahm hit a splendid shot out of the rough to bail out Tyrrell Hatton on the sixth hole. Hatton did the same for Rahm moments later, when a stick inches away from their ball threatened to derail the duo on the seventh.
While captain Luke Donald did not run it back with the exact lineup that won in Rome in 2023, he kept Europe’s two most reliable pairings together — and the result was a dominant start at Bethpage Black and a 3-1 lead over the U.S. following morning foursomes on Friday.
“We have a lot of great players and a lot of great partnerships,” Fleetwood said. “As a team, there’s a lot of continuity there.”
The “Fleetwood Mac” tandem rolled past Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5-and-4. Rahm and Hatton rallied from a rough first few holes to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas 4-and-3.
Eliciting the sing-song “Ole! Ole! Ole!” chants from fans waiting at the 18th hole they didn’t come close to needing, Rahm’s and Hatton’s mutual admiration more than ran its course.
“This man is a joy to be partnered with,” Rahm said. “We spend a lot of time together and he can be very, very dependable when things get going difficult. I have full confidence every single time, and just glad we were able to get it done.”
DeChambeau and Thomas were 1 up through five when Hatton’s tee shot went left and into the rough. Rahm chipped his second shot to around three feet, and they halved the hole.
“Jon hit an amazing recovery shot,” Hatton said. “I don’t think anyone thought that we’d be putting second.”
They tied it on No. 7 after Hatton rescued them with his shot over the stick and through the trees to land it on the green. They went 1 up on No. 8 and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
“We didn’t have our best start during the first seven holes, (but) we battled, we stayed in it and from then on we started hitting good shots and getting really positive vibes,” Rahm said.
Returning 11 of the 12 players who won at Marco Simone two years ago, Donald split up Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg , putting them with new partners. Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick beat Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley, while Hovland and Robert MacIntyre lost to Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
By juggling things a bit, Donald may have found a new winning combination. Asked about beating Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, Aberg said: “I had a great partner. I think that speaks to it.”
___
AP Ryder Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/ryder-cup
