Northern Irish pairing get Europe off to the best possible start

Golf Correspondent

Saturday 29 September 2012

It was 6.30 in the morning, it was still half dark and the masses stood at the gates champing at the bit to get in.

Europe's Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy celebrate winning the fourth hole en route to a 2&1 victory. Picture: Getty Images

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Nick Rodger

It was just like the Boxing Day sales. Even those seasoned golf correspondents, who are used to shuffling leisurely into an event when the first group is coming down the 18th at about lunchtime, were up at the crack of dawn. That's the lure of the opening day of a Ryder Cup. Mind you, many of those decorated scribblers looked like they could have done with one of those 'breakfast beers' as they call them here, the obvious sustenance of choice for the paying punters who were jockeying for position at the entrances to Medinah. In a city that didn't even stop boozing when ordered to by a constitutional amendment during the prohibition, the morale boosting morning eye opener was clearly the order of the day in this corner of Chicago. For Ryder Cup weekend, Medinah has been wrenched from genteel, country club reserve and handed over to the mob.

Those players entrusted with getting the 39th staging of this transatlantic tussle underway on the course could probably have done with a stiff drink too as the build-up to this biennial bunfight reached fever pitch on a pleasant Illinois day.Girding their loins for the lion's den, the European gladiators of Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy stepped into the boisterous amphitheatre surrounding the first tee for the opening foursomes clash with the US duo of Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker.McDowell clearly relishes these moments and he soaked up the whooping and the hollering, the adulation from the European fans and the playful antagonism from the American supporters, like a big sponge.As the player who carried the hopes of a continent on his shoulders in the 2010 match at Celtic Manor, and stood firm under the weight to deliver the cup-winning point, there was only ever going to be one man for the job of clattering away the opening drive here."It's a great honour to lead Europe out in the Ryder Cup," said the former US Open champion from Portrush upon accepting the challenge. "We're going to go out there to get the blue on the board early."McDowell almost turned the air blue with his opening tee shot, though. As the bawling subsided and a hush of respectful anticipation enveloped the scene, the 33-year-old thrashed his ball straight left into the kind of area most club golfers are used to guddling about in on many an occasion. A well-known curse ending with 'Sake' floated from the lips of one concerned observer standing next to this writer."It was a very bizarre experience," added McDowell in the aftermath of a narrow, one hole triumph that helped Europe share the morning session 2-2. "I was actually feeling very calm and very cool on the tee until I stepped over the ball. I couldn't ignore the silence. The silence felt like it was deafening and it made my mind go blank." Most golf reporters have that feeling on a daily basis when groping desperately for an intro. Normal thought processes did return to McDowell's head not long after, though, and a deft chip to within a few inches of the cup, following McIlroy's initial salvage operation from the wilds, ensured the opening hole of this opening match would be halved.By the time, the Northern Irish duo marched off the 11th green, they were a commanding three holes to the good following a profitable run of five birdies in six holes from the third. Blue was certainly the colour and at one stage, the European team as a whole were up in all four matches.There wasn't much evidence of the much-hyped Chicago roar at this point. No wonder. It had been drowned out by shouts of 'Fore' a few matches back. Tiger Woods was not so much on the prowl. It was more of a permanent scowl. Playing in the anchor match with Steve Stricker, which they would eventually lose 2&1 to the English duo of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose, Woods' day got off to the worst possible start with an opening batter that flew left and came to rest against a fence. As the tie unravelled, Woods looked like he needed a Sat Nav to find the fairway. Either that, or a spectator's head. Another wayward drive on seven bounced off someone's bonce and ricocheted back into play. Blood poured from the wound. Woods was bloody too. Bloody awful.

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Northern Irish pairing get Europe off to the best possible start

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