Darren Clarke strolled off the course at Hazeltine National late Friday and was a proud man.
“As a captain, I’m very proud of what they did this afternoon,” Clarke said of his European team after watching them go 3-1 in the four-ball (best ball) competition.
Rory McIlroy led the team back into contention after the USA ran up a 4-0 advantage in the morning.
“It’s better to have a small deficit with momentum,” Clarke said as the sun set on a day of exciting action that had the crowd in Chaska, totally into the 41st staging of the Ryder Cup.
McIlroy and partner Thomas Pieters took down Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, 3-and-2.
Europe’s strongest twosome, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, got some revenge with a 5-and-4 shellacking of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
Sergio Garcia and fellow Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello got the third point with a 3-and-2 decision over J.B. Holmes and Ryan Moore, who sat out the morning session.
The only U.S. point came when Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka totally dominated Martin Kaymer and Danny Willett.
On the first day, Davis Love III played his entire team while first-timers Matthew Fitzpatrick and Chris Wood sat on the sidelines for Europe.
Saturday’s schedule is the same — foursomes (alternate shot) in the morning, four-ball (best ball) in the afternoon.
