ROME There have been eight matches at this Ryder Cup.
The U.S. has not won a single one.
That’s never happened in the 94-year-history of this event.
We’ll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle, so to speak.
But what a day."
The Americans were left searching for the faintest resons for optimism.
“At least we got some points,” Wyndham Clark said.
“But we have a tall task in front of us.”
It should be noted that 20 of 28 total points are still there for the taking.
It is not over just yet.
But the U.S. must get straight to business on Saturday.
The morning, quite literally, couldn’t have gone any worse for the Americans.
Neither did any of the U.S.' three other teams.
The Europeans played solid enough in the morning.
Sam Burns found the water from good positions, twice, on the front nine.
Rickie Fowler could not buy a putt.
Max Homa was all over the place.
The U.S. never looked like gaining even a half-point.
That pop in of hindsight, of course, is baked into the fabric of the Ryder Cup.
Everyone has the answer after the fact.
To Johnson’s credit, he made the necessary move to blow up all four teams.
Burns, Fowler, Brian Harman and Patrick Cantlay went to the bench.
He called on the reinforcements.
They were led by Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, but really by Justin Thomas.
The same Thomas who missed the FedEx Cup playoffs entirely.
Spieth chipped in early and contributed his share…until that crucial hour when matches are decided.
He was in his pocket for the last four holes down the stretch, leaving Thomas to play 1-on-2.
To say nothing of the thousands of fans rooting against him.
Thomas almost single-handedly scraped out a half-point to get the U.S. on the board.
Thomas holed massive putts down the stretchfirst, this par putt to steal a halve at 14.
It was the first time any match had reached the excellent par-5 finisher.
All the sudden the pressure shifted firmly to Thomas' shoulders.
He poured it in the center for a massive half point.
They won the par-4 16th when Rahm rammed in an eagle chip from off the green.
“And he said, ‘What would Seve do?”
Right, “do it for Seve.”
They hit first on the par-3 17th.
Homa pulled his into the water.
Clark bailed out right.
A par from Justin Rose won the hole to narrow the deficit to 1 down.
Homa missed the fairway and had to layup before playing his third to about 15 feet.
“A lot of putts have meant a lot to me,” Rose said.
It was fun."
It was all fun on Friday.
For Europe, that is.
