@alan_bastable<\/a>): Surely Luke Donald deserves a nod. He was one (several?) step ahead of the Americans in Rome, and it appears he is again here on Long Island. I don\u2019t know if he rises to \u201chero\u201d status, but props also to Cameron Young, who hitched up with a seemingly out-of-form Justin Thomas in the afternoon and steamrolled Aberg and Hojgaard. Makes you wonder if Young \u2014 with his New York roots and all of his Bethpage experience \u2014 shoulda played twice today.<\/p>\n\n Looking ahead to future Ryder Cup venues\n <\/p>\n
2. And one day in, who\u2019s this Ryder Cup\u2019s biggest dud? Again, no repeats.<\/p>\n
Colgan: Uh, it\u2019s Scottie Scheffler. The best player on either side went 0-2-0 on Friday, continuing a streak of surprisingly poor play in team matches. At one point he\u2019d gone 18 straight holes of match play without a single birdie. On this golf course? In these conditions? To borrow from the local parlance, forget about it! Two weeks ago, Scheffler ended a streak of TWENTY ONE straight rounds under par. The Americans need way more out of their No. 1 if they\u2019re going to stand any chance on the weekend. (Though I\u2019ll admit I was encouraged by back-to-back birdies to close things out!)<\/p>\n
Zak: James is right, but no repeats! So I\u2019ll take his morning teammate, Russell Henley, who might be a Ryder Cup rookie, but is the No. 3 player in the world. He\u2019s been one of the six best golfers on the planet for the last 12 months. And he was shook by the stage. He shriveled up and didn\u2019t give Scheffler much at all to work with. The American horses need to be horses. They\u2019re not right now.<\/p>\n
Dethier: Bethpage Black as a match play golf course was a bit of a dud. I dunno, man \u2014 there was just zero fire to this place. It was wet, which is obviously outside the control of tournament organizers. But I didn\u2019t feel like players faced much in the way of risk. The rough is cut so short and the greens are so soft that there\u2019s very little punishment for a miss, which meant that there was a lot of dart-throwing and then a bunch of matches turned into putting contests. The Europeans made almost zero bogeys in foursomes! Credit to them. I just craved something more compelling.<\/p>\n
Bastable: The first tee experience. Don\u2019t get me wrong, the hulking stands were packed and lively Friday morning, but the horizontal structure \u2014\u00a0which extends from the back of the 18th green all the way to the first tee \u2014\u00a0lacks a certain intimacy and cohesiveness. When it came to chanting and revelry, one half of the stands didn\u2019t seem to know what the other half was doing. I missed the Colosseum vibe created by wraparound stands we\u2019ve seen at past Ryder Cups.<\/p>\n
3. You\u2019ve suddenly been called into the captain\u2019s room. What are you telling Keegan Bradley and U.S. leadership?<\/p>\n
Zak: I\u2019m telling Keegan that it\u2019s OK for players to not play three matches. Everyone got their feet wet Friday. They don\u2019t have to play Saturday. Xander Schauffele should not be sitting. Harris English doesn\u2019t have to go back out there Saturday. You\u2019re in junkyard dog mode now. Every half point matters.<\/p>\n
Colgan: I\u2019ll be a little bit more specific: I\u2019m telling Keegan that Collin Morikawa and Harris English can sit until you\u2019re looking at a more competitive tournament. Those guys were totally overmatched on Friday.<\/p>\n
Dethier: Don\u2019t you even think for one second about sitting Cameron Young another session. Also check the bylaws to see if the captain can sub himself in.<\/p>\n
Bastable: I don\u2019t know. I\u2019d guess I\u2019d tell Keegan to say something to his team like, \u201cGreat moments are born from great opportunity. And that\u2019s what you have here Saturday, boys. That\u2019s what you\u2019ve earned here. Eight matches. If we played \u2019em 10 times, they might win nine. But not tomorrow. Saturday, we play golf with \u2019em. Saturday, we stay with \u2019em, and we shut them down because we can! Saturday, we are the greatest match-play team in the world\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
4. Tell me one interesting thing you saw or heard on the course Friday.<\/p>\n
Zak: A couple sports psychs for the American team will see the boys off Saturday morning, then fly down to Athens for the Alabama-Georgia game, as they both work with those football teams, too. Then they\u2019ll fly back to Long Island Saturday night to help get the boys ready for Sunday Singles. That\u2019s one helluva weekend.<\/p>\n
Colgan: I witnessed the most subdued Bryson DeChambeau I\u2019ve seen in a big-time golf setting in two years! Of course, he was still Bryson, but I was surprised to see how little time he spent playing into the crowd. I think we need to see more of the Showman if we\u2019re hoping this thing is close on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Dethier: Rory got by far the most grief of any player \u2014 fans were chanting \u201cF\u2014 you, Rory!\u201d pre-7 a.m. \u2014 but by the end of the afternoon seemed to draw strength from it. We can study strokes-gained post-bird-flip<\/a> but he didn\u2019t miss a shot down the stretch.<\/p>\nBastable: The military sniper in the stands behind 18 green dropped my jaw. The sharpshooter was part of Trump\u2019s security team, but still, seeing him perched up there with a rifle propped on a tripod was not something I expected to see so close to the action.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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