On a day when the emotion of the Ryder Cup threatened to boil over it was Rory McIlroy who got into the hottest funk. Things had been going well for the Irishman, who had won his morning fourball with Sergio García and was two up after two holes playing with Ian Poulter in the afternoon against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth until he appeared to be provoked by a spectator about his putting.
McIlroy’s response after making a tricky 10-footer to make a half on the 3rd was to turn around 180 degrees to face the crowd before bellowing at them: “Who am I? Who am I?” before pointing at his chest, and shouting: “Fucking come on!”
The suggestion was that he had be goaded by an American spectator although Europe’s captain, Thomas Bjørn, insisted that he had not seen the incident.
Whatever the specifics, the adrenaline was certainly sloshing around McIlroy’s body. And his play seemed to suffer as he and Poulter lost four of the next five holes against Spieth and Thomas – and didn’t win another hole for the rest of the match before going down 4&3.
Sky’s TV commentators apologised for McIlroy’s comments, as they did on several other occasions during the afternoon, including when Tiger Woods uttered a loud “fuck” following a poor shot. But rather than inspire the Northern Irishman the incident appeared to fire him up too much.
Moments later he screwed his drive at the 4th hole way right and deep into bushes – and while the ball was found it was deemed unplayable and Europe limped to a triple-bogey seven.
That got the USA a hole back, and they were ahead when a poor Poulter pitch and a yipped McIlroy putt led to European bogeys at the 6th and 8th.
In the space of about 40 minutes the US had won four out of five holes, and they should have gone further ahead at the 9th only for Thomas to miss a tiddler for birdie. It was pretty much his only mistake of the match.
He quickly made amends on the par-three 11th with another birdie after McIlroy had missed an opportunity of his own. And the American’s delight was obvious as he roared: “Let’s fucking go!” as a rare chant of “USA! USA!” went around Le Golf National.
That sent Spieth and Thomas three up, and three more birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th sealed the win. Naturally it was Thomas who clinched victory with another birdie putt.
Thomas said afterwards: “We were two down after two holes so to close it on the 15th green showed that we both played unbelievable. There is nothing better than getting a point for your team and playing with one of your best friends. We have given ourselves a chance.”
He certainly had a sensational day, hitting seven birdies in the morning session as he and Spieth beat Poulter and Jon Rahm 2&1 – and following up with six more birdies in the afternoon.
What made Thomas’s performance even more impressive was that he was playing with his wrist strapped up with kinesiology tape – not that you would have known.
It surely helped that Thomas had been the only member of the US team to play at Le Golf National when it staged the French Open on this Albatros course three months ago, finishing eighth. Incidentally, six of the US team were seeing the course for the first time. Quite often it showed.
Thomas was quick to give credit to his old friend Spieth, whom he first played against at a junior event in Texas when they were 13 years old. A year later they were picked to represent the US in the Evian Junior Masters in France. This was another level entirely, of course, but the pair were clearly comfortable with each other’s company despite Poulter’s best efforts to rile up the crowd by beating his chest after every successful putt.
Meanwhile Spieth was happy with his performance, saying: “I have been trending in the right direction as the season as gone on and I love this feeling. It feels like you’re competing on Sunday at a major on every hole. It felt like you are in contention at the major.”
As for Sunday, he is confident that the American team can spring a shock comeback. “If we go out there and we get a couple of points early then the pressure shifts solely on to them,” he said. “They had a six-point lead at one point and now it’s four. And I think if we can get two or three points from the first three matches then it starts getting a quiet and uneasy happening and that is what we are aiming for.”
When asked about whether their energy levels were waning after playing two 36-hole days in a row, Thomas and Spieth had a simple answer: “We are 25 years old.” The sense is they believe a comeback is possible. They just need the rest of the US team to start playing like them.
