FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — It might be fair to say nobody was going to beat a Ryder Cup duo on a roll — one that’s so good, it has its own nickname: “Fleetwood Mac.”
But Harris English and Collin Morikawa against one of Europe’s best teams, well, that never seemed like a fair fight.
American captain Keegan Bradley put those two together not once but twice, and bad luck paired them against Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood both times.
The Americans didn’t make it past the 16th hole in either match, and their 3-and-2 loss in Saturday’s foursomes would have been worse had they not won two holes in a row to tighten the match toward the end.
“We gave it a good fight,” English said. “We could have easily taken a knee there in the middle of the round, and we didn’t.”
Even so, this felt like the most predictable result from America’s stalled-out attempt at a Day 2 rally. The U.S. entered the afternoon fourball matches trailing 8 1/2-3 1/2, and with English and Morikawa both on the bench.
The pairing of two of the PGA Tour’s more accurate but shorter drivers on a long course with cut-down rough was one part of an analytics discussion that Bradley swept aside by saying “we have a plan and we’re going to stick with it” when pressed after announcing his Day 2 lineup.
The number-cruncher note that generated the most buzz came from datagolf.com. The site ranked all 132 possible foursome pairings that could come out of Bradley’s roster of 12 players. The English-Morikawa duo: No. 132.
Even the website’s data crunchers, brothers Matt and Will Courchene, said it wasn’t that confusing a formula.
“English and Morikawa are the two worst players on the U.S. team,” Matt Courchene said. “That’s the most important thing.”
It’s nothing against them.
These are, arguably, the 12 best players the U.S. has to throw out there. English was a runner-up in two majors this year. Morikawa has won two majors though hasn’t been in great form in 2025, with his putting stats among the biggest culprits in his game.
“We kind of just had a little middle of the stretch where we started missing some putts and hitting a few bad shots, and that’s going to cost you against two of their best players essentially,” Morikawa said.
On the other side, Fleetwood and McIlroy combined to make 112 feet worth of putts over the 13 holes they won or tied. They shot 6 under over 16 holes in the alternate-shot format, a number English said was “pretty tough to beat.”
“Could have made a few more putts yesterday,” English said. “We finally started making some today. But against that duo, they’ve played really well together. They’re a tough team to beat.”
Fleetwood improved to 6-0 lifetime in foursomes. McIlroy is 9-5-1.
Even the Courchenes, who didn’t understand all of Bradley’s decisions, and especially not this one, recognized the Americans ran into the buzzsaw. They also spoke to the reality that all the number crunching in the world can’t predict the one thing no captain can control.
The Americans, Matt Courchene said, “played below their expectations, and now it seems like everyone’s blaming Keegan. The players still are hitting the shots.”
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