Remember the date. Tommy Fleetwood will certainly not forget it. September 28, 2018 was the day the Southport man became a Ryder Cup star. Oh, and it was also his son’s first birthday. It will be forever in his mind as if seared on with a branding iron.

Even the marketing folk at that well-kent beer which prided itself on doing things better than anybody else would’ve struggled to conjure a more perfect day.

Two wins in terrific tandem with Francesco Molinari, a 5-3 lead for Europe overall and a quick dart away from the course to get a cuddle off the wee fella? It was a magical day all round. “Just unreal,” said Fleetwood with a gleaming smile that was as bright as the buffed up Ryder Cup itself.

The Fleetwood and Molinari axis proved to be a hugely accomplished, assured and productive partnership. The prospect of Europe being whitewashed in the morning fourballs was very real but the salvage operation that Fleetwood and Molinari produced with a battling 3&1 win over Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed led to a turning of the tide which would eventually become a foursomes tsunami.

The European pairing poured a big bucket of cold water on Woods’ eagerly anticipated Ryder Cup return. They then doled out a savage pounding to the illustrious partnership of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the foursomes.

“They have a very special bond and relationship,” said European captain Thomas Bjorn of his newly-crowned dream team. “They love being on the golf course together.”

The four players Fleetwood and Molinari vanquished yesterday have a combined haul of 19 majors among them. Those shimmering baubles tend to get left in the locker room, though, and the Ryder Cup can be a great leveller.

The European twosome didn’t have anything to fear. Both of them have been in the form of their lives this season and they were in fine fettle again yesterday as Europe prospered after that initial peril.

“We were walking down the sixth and we both said, ‘it sounds a little bit better’,” said Fleetwood as those matches in front of him in the afternoon all swung swiftly in Europe’s favour. “The energy that you get from those guys going in front, I don’t really know how to describe it. All the preparation you do still doesn’t get you ready for this. Some guys have done this 10 times. There is nothing like it.”

Molinari, the reigning Open champion, had never actually gained a full point in his two previous Ryder Cup appearances.

Two wins out of two for the Italian yesterday went down better than a couple of sturdy gulps of Chianti after a tough day at the office. “Finally, finally,” he said with a smile before lavishing praise on his partner. “I love him. What can I say?”

The softly spoken, unassuming Molinari is not one to get swept along by praise, plaudits and pats on the back. This was a job well done. But there is plenty of work to be done if Europe are to recapture the cup lost at Hazeltine two years ago.

“It’s great but we need to put the hat back on and reset quickly,” added Molinari. “They [the US] are going to come out strongly so there’s no time to celebrate when there’s still a job to be done. We have prepared to get it done … and we will.”

The last time Europe whitewashed a session was in 1989. That particular match ended in a 14-14 draw and was enough for European to retain the cup. They need 14½ to grab it back this time.

Molinari’s note of caution about not resting on laurels was echoed by Bjorn and the Danish skipper urged his men to keep the foot to the floor in a tussle that could easily have a different complexion by the end of the today’s to-ings and fro-ings.

“When you clean sweep, that is something very special for all the players,” he said. “But we experienced that against us at Hazeltine and it’s not a nice thing. We got those crowds behind us today, they started believing and then it seemed like they could do no wrong.

“ But I’ve been around long enough to know that it could be completely different again. I know what is ahead of us these next two days.”

Fleetwood can still cling to this perfect day, though.