Ryder Cup: Europe on course for victory despite Straka defeat

The US duo retained the upper hand in the foursome with 4&2 and secured the defending champions’ first match win. In the Gulf continental comparison, it has its back even more against the wall near Rome, with Europe pulling away to 9.5:2;5.

Straka/Lowry made positive headlines on Friday at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club with a win over Rickie Fowler/Collin Morikawa (2&1). This is also why team captain Luke Donald lined them up together again. However, they were unable to match their performance from the previous day in the hot weather. And Homa/Harman were clearly in better shape as opponents, they closed the bag early on the 16th hole.

“The last hole definitely says a lot,” said Straka in an initial reaction. The US duo and especially Harman played “incredibly well”. “Sometimes you have to deal with opponents who are simply better,” said the 30-year-old Viennese, pretending to be a fair loser. Homa was happy about the “great golf” that had been played and hoped for the starting signal for a comeback. “We’re obviously in a big hole, but we have the right guys to get out of it.”

There isn’t much to suggest that. Because Donald’s trust in the foursome pairings that were victorious on Friday paid off almost completely. Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood (against Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth), Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg (against Scottie Scheffler/Brooks Koepka) and Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton (against Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele) repeated their previous day’s success.

The Straka/Lowry conquerors Homa/Harman can try again in one of four fourballs duels in the afternoon. However, like on Friday, Austria’s ace was not nominated for this competition. One of the twelve final singles on Sunday will be his third and final appearance at the 44th edition of the prestigious event. The Europeans need 14.5 points to dethrone the US team, which is weakened by illness. In the event of a tie, the trophy would remain in the hands of Zach Johnson’s team.