The 44th Ryder Cup is upon us but it’s been an ugly start for the Americans.
The Europeans pounced early and finished the first day leading 6½-1 ½. The Euros did that once before in 2004 in Detroit.
“There’s a ways to go in this Ryder Cup,” writes Golfweek‘s Eamon Lynch “but if the U.S. loses there will be plenty of blame to go around.”
Perhaps the U.S. team, which started the first day 0-4, can draw inspiration from the European Solheim Cup team, which also started 0-4 before going on to retain that Cup.
The host course, Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, is a public-access layout with tee times available on the course’s website starting at 190 Euros for international players. The course playing to a par of 71 with the scorecard showing 7,181 yards. The rough is deep and thick, putting an emphasis on accurate tee shots to relatively tight fairways.
The Americans, captained by Zach Johnson, are trying to win on foreign soil for the first time since 1993. Team Europe, meanwhile, is hoping an influx of young talent will help captain Luke Donald reverse a lopsided loss at Whistling Straits in 2021.
For more info on players, scoring, schedule and course data, check out our Ryder Cup hub.