News
Ryder Cup 2018: 7 stats that show just how bad things went for Team USA in Friday's foursomes
Jamie Squire
After a promising opening session for Team USA at the 2018 Ryder Cup, things turned against them in a hurry. You could practically hear captain Jim Furyk thinking sacre bleu! as a sea of blue washed over the scoreboard at Le Golf National. Sorry, I woke up really early, but you get the point. By the time Day 1 was over, the Americans, who once led 3-0, found themselves in a 5-3 hole. But that score following the loss of all four foursomes matches doesn't even begin to describe just how bad it went for Furyk's squad on Friday afternoon in France. Here's a closer look at 7 telling — and troubling — stats, if you're a U.S. fan.
1: Foursomes (alternate shot) is a format the U.S. has struggled with historically, but never quite like they did on Friday. The 4-0 beatdown by Europe marked the first clean sweep of the U.S. in the format ever. Yep, ever. And according to Golf Channel's Justin Ray, the nine previous time there's been a sweep in any session, that team has gone onto win the Ryder Cup. We're guessing captain Furyk won't be sharing that little factoid with his squad before Saturday.
+2: The unofficial score (remember, we're dealing with gimmes and concessions) of Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau in their 5-and-4 loss to Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren. Why do we point this out? Because despite this duo getting run off the course, this was actually the best score of any U.S. team during the session. Yikes.
+12: The unofficial cumulative score of the four U.S. teams during the session. Again, we're dealing with gimmes and concessions, or it would have been even worse than this. Meanwhile, the Europeans posted a five-under total, impressive in a tough format on a difficult course in windy conditions.
6: The total number of holes the U.S. led for during Friday's foursomes. Out of 60 holes played. And all six of these came courtesy of Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, who led 2 up after 3, but fell behind for good when opponents Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter won holes 6-9.
10: The total number of holes won by the Americans. Over four matches. Out of 60 holes. In the tumultuous foursomes format. That is not good. In contrast, Europe won nearly half (27) of the holes. That is good.
16: The final hole any of these four matches reached. Europe finished off two wins on this par 3, while the other two matches ended even earlier on the par-5 14th. In fact, this was arguably the most lopsided session in Ryder Cup history.
We feel for the fans who forked out big bucks to get into those hospitality tents on 17 and 18.
3:50: The amount of time, three hours and 50 minutes, it took for the entire foursomes session, which wrapped up at 11:40 a.m. ET. It only took three hours and five minutes for the final match to finish. Sure, foursomes takes a lot less time than four-ball due to so many fewer shots being hit, but still, this was quick. Golf Channel had to fill out its coverage window by showing extensive — emphasis on extensive — highlights from the morning. NBC would like to avoid a similar situation on Sunday. A less lopsided foursomes session on Saturday wouldn't hurt.