Ryder Cup - fourballs results: Team USA take flattering but commanding lead after morning session

“I love him. What can I say? I love him.”

Francesco Molinari beamed at Tommy Fleetwood, his partner for the morning session and a teammate who helped bring Europe their only point of a difficult start to the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National.

Eight players, 16 balls, four matches, 3-1 USA. The fourballs that brought up the curtain on golf’s greatest contest saw the American team take a flattering but nonetheless commanding lead after a tight session that swayed from team to team, culminating in Molinari’s fist-pump and Fleetwood’s glance to the heavens.

Only two of the matches made it the 18th green, and it was Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth who holed putts where their European foes could not in front of a monster crowd around the final hole.

Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton, taking on Spieth and Justin Thomas, went three down on the front nine and never recovered despite a surge of birdies coming back to the clubhouse.

The English pair “played phenomenal golf” according to Spieth, but their early woes returned as neither found the fairway on 17, with only an uncharacteristic missed putt from Spieth allowing Casey and Hatton to make it to 18.

There Casey found himself in the deep stuff again but Hatton’s drive was perfect and his approach put him on the green for a putt to win the hole and halve the match. It leaked left, the USA went 3-0 up and a morning session that had been too close to call suddenly had a one-sided look to it until Molinari and Fleetwood finished off Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed.

“We had that little tough stretch in the middle of the round, I lost three holes out of four, I think, and it's easy for it to go flat,” said Fleetwood.

“But the crowds, the home crowds, as soon as Fran holed that putt on 11, things changed straightaway. And the crowd carried us through it all the way.”

It was an impressive showing from the pairing and it saw them reunited for the afternoon’s foursomes. It is there that Europe will need to haul themselves back into contention.

Rory McIlroy and Thorbjorn Olesen lost 4&2 to Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler

The concerns over McIlroy's form coming into the event proved not to be without foundation as the Northern Irishman was the only man of all the morning players not to register a birdie. His wedge play and putting was never up to scratch and that placed a lot of pressure on rookie Olesen.

Europe 0 United States 1

Justin Rose and Jon Rahm lost by 1 hole to Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau

Finau had a remarkable round, chipping in for an eagle on the sixth before the American rookie drove out of bounds on the next a massive stroke of luck on the 16th, where his water-bound tee shot hit a wooden sleeper on the edge of the hazard and bounced to within three feet of the hole. Rose then found the water with his approach to the 18th and the American pair had pulled off an unlikely win.

Europe 0 United States 2

Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton lost by 1 hole to Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas

Casey birdied the ninth and 10th simply to limit the damage and made it four in a row on 11 and 12 to reduce the English pair's front-nine deficit before Hatton's birdie on the 13th remarkably got them back on level terms. However, Thomas birdied the daunting 15th to edge the Americans back in front and that proved decisive.

Europe 0 United States 3

Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood won 3&1 against Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods

Much was made of Woods' renaissance but his play was nowhere near the level which helped him win his first event in five years at the Tour Championship on Sunday.

Fleetwood's birdies on 15 and 16 proved decisive. When the American pair then failed to find the 17th green in regulation, Open champion Molinari birdied from 15ft for the win.

Europe 1 United States 3