The Europeans entered the 2025 Ryder Cup hoping experience would make the difference, and on Friday, they were proven correct as the visitors stormed out to a 5.5 to 2.5 lead on the United States. It’s the first time Europe has led on U.S. soil after Friday’s first day of action since 2004 (when the visitors won 18.5 to 9.5), and captain Luke Donald pushed almost all of the correct buttons across the first two sessions.
Meanwhile, the Americans were left wondering whether they need to go to Plan B as they face a 3-point deficit after Day 1, a margin from which no team has come back since 1999.
The performance of the teams’ top stars was the name of the game on Day 1. Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy went 3-0-1 for Europe, providing the kind of stability and leadership the team needed on the road from their best players. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, meanwhile, saw Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau combine to go 0-4-0. Compounding the problem? Some of the pairings he expected to lean on this week are now major question marks.
The pressure is firmly on the Americans to claw back closer to level with Europe on Day 2, which will follow the same schedule with foursomes in the morning and fourballs in the afternoon.
Check out a full breakdown of the 2025 Ryder Cup schedule and playing format along with CBS Sports’ ranking of all 24 players on the Ryder Cup rosters ahead of competition Saturday.
2025 Ryder Cup matchups: Day 2 (Saturday)
Session 1 — Foursomes
|
9 |
Bryson DeChambeau & Cameron Young |
7:10 a.m. |
Matt Fitzpatrick & Ludvig Åberg |
|
10 |
Collin Morikawa & Harris English |
7:26 a.m. |
Rory McIlroy & Tommy Fleetwood |
|
11 |
Xander Schauffele & Patrick Cantlay |
7:42 a.m. |
Jon Rahm & Tyrrell Hatton |
|
12 |
Scottie Scheffler & Russell Henley |
7:58 a.m. |
Robert MacIntyre & Viktor Hovland |
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Europe dominated alternate shot 3-1 on Day 1; as such, it will send out the exact same pairings for Saturday’s session. They have been placed in a different order this time, but Donald is applying the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to Saturday’s action. Frankly, it’s hard to blame him.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Åberg get the call to go out first this time around as Donald hope they can get hot early and set the tone for Europe. Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton drop back to the third session behind McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood with Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre bringing up the rear again.
The United States will also stay the course with their Saturday foursomes pairings in a rather surprising move. The only change from Friday will be Cameron Young swapping in for Justin Thomas alongside DeChambeau, as Bradley has opted to stick with the original plan despite facing a notable deficit.
The biggest surprise is the return of a Collin Morikawa and Harris English pairing that got steamrolled by McIlroy and Fleetwood on Friday; the troubled American duo will have to deal with that dominant unit again Saturday. There seemed to be little in the way of positive vibes or chemistry from those two Friday, so no one anticipated them to get thrown back out there for another session.
Henley also was expected by most fans to hit the bench Saturday with J.J. Spaun seemingly performing better in the afternoon among the rookie options to pair with Scheffler. However, Bradley clearly believes Henley is the right fit next to Scheffler despite the struggles Friday. What will be most interesting is whether they change up the order of who hits when, as Henley teeing off the first was a head-scratcher given the course setup.