There was a moment, early in Ryder Cup week, when a journalist dared to suggest to Jon Rahm that his winning percentage in this competition was a paltry 56% – less than that of the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald. “That kind of implies that I haven’t made any moves,” he replied, his voice bristling as if his entire masculinity was being called into question.
On an exciting first day he went a step further, okay. And then a little. From his very first shot, in the opening foursome at 7:35, the Spaniard fed off the crowd’s shouts: “Rahmbo! Rahmbo!”, their energy fueled his intense fire.
Rahm and his foursome partner, Tyrell Hatton, were billed as Team Combustible. Instead, they kept their cool and drew first blood by beating Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 4&3. Then, on an afternoon of high temperatures and flowing emotions, Rahm performed a miracle at the Marco Simone – with two eagles in the last three holes – to move into a tie with Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
During the day, Rahm chipped from the green three times and made multiple birdies and three eagles. But it was his extraordinary 40-footer on the 18th, late in the day, that will linger longest. As that putt climbed over a steep bank, Rahm and his playing partner Nicolai Højgaard watched as it clattered into the hole, jumped and pirouetted in the air before disappearing. Even the Spaniard couldn’t believe it. But in one fell swoop, Europe had fended off the crimson tide, taking a 6½ – 1½ lead overnight.
Ryder Cups are never completely won on opening day. But they can certainly be lost. And Europe now has a record first-day lead.
“I have to give Nicolai props because here on 18 he gave me the freedom to basically run with it, and he told me to hit a putt and try to make it,” Rahm said. “And he said, ‘What would Seve do, right? Do it for Seve.’ I don’t know if he would have made it that way, but I’m sure glad it went in.
Not everyone was equally impressed. Koepka then accused Rahm of acting like a child and of “pouting” and “hitting a board.” But the American also added: “We made 14 to 18 birdies. And lost by two eagles. You can’t do anything.”
After sending his first tee shot of the foursome into the rough, Rahm started the European attack by rolling out a long horseshoe putt on the 2nd. A tiddler at the 5th – set up by Hatton’s feathered chip – got Europe two moving.
“If one of us misses a shot, we know what’s going on in the other player’s mind,” Rahm explained afterwards, emphasizing his special bond with Hatton. “We may word it differently, but ultimately it is the same process. It’s like you’re in the same brain.”
At times Rahm looked like a prowling bear. On other occasions a teddy bear. Whenever Hatton strayed off course, or missed a putt he thought was within reach, he noticed the Spaniard squeezing his shoulders or whispering a word of encouragement in his ears. It clearly worked. On that fifth hole, Hatton was briefly startled by someone talking in the crowd. And turning and glaring, he quickly regained his composure.
“Be angry Tyrel!” shouted an American fan after a bad shot. But the Englishman didn’t bite. When a spectator wandered around the course and delayed his tee shot, he smiled.
The American team briefly threatened to pull back with a birdie on 6. But then Rahm went into another gear. First he almost made a hole-in-one on the par three seventh – which banged the flag and was called in by the US team – and then, with Europe struggling on the 10th, he came in.
With Burns looking shaky, skinning to the right and left but not the centre, Europe quickly pressed their advantage. Rahm drove the par-four 11th to extend the lead, while another stunning approach from the Spaniard at the par-five 12th set up an Eagle Putt to put Europe up four.
“I’ve had a good feeling about Tyrrell the whole time,” Rahm said. “The last time we played together it felt really good, and it was good to come here and perform like we did. I was an incredible foursomes match and we played as confidently as two people can play, and it was a beautiful match. “I told Tyrrell that I normally have the feelings you have during a tournament. I had my first warm-up putt at 6:20 in the morning in the dark, and it kept getting higher and higher until we hit that tee shot on the first hole. It’s a different feeling, but if you embrace it and enjoy it, you can play some pretty good rounds of golf, like we did today.”
Was it a surprise that the Spaniard wasn’t initially as effective in the afternoon? After all, the heat was now in the high 80s and he had been riding Marco Simone’s hills in his legs for hours. But when Europe needed him, he did it again – and how.