How the afternoon unfolded: Europe stretch lead in four-ball session

Team Europe produced late fireworks to finish the opening day of the 44th Ryder Cup with a record-equalling five-point lead.

After Friday morning's foursomes whitewash, Europe managed to hold off a U.S. fightback in the afternoon, winning the four-ball session 2½-1½ and preventing the visitors from winning a match on day one.

The 18th hole witnessed some dramatic finishes in the evening sun, as stunning putts from Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose earned Europe valuable ties.

Here is a look at how a roller-coaster afternoon session unfolded and what the players said.

Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton TIE with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

The U.S. Team finally made their mark on the scoreboard as Thomas and Spieth - who had surprisingly been left out of the opening session - got the visitors' first ½ point of the week in the afternoon's top match. But considering they were 2 UP with five to play, the U.S. pair will perhaps be left ruing a missed opportunity. After Hatton's opening birdie saw Europe take the first hole, the U.S. duo won the fourth and sixth to grab the lead before Hovland's birdie at the short seventh levelled things up once more. Back-to-back wins at the 12th and 13th put the U.S. in the box seat before Hatton's birdie on the 14th cut the deficit to one. And after Hatton also birdied the 16th to tie the match, Hovland holed from 20 feet for birdie on the 18th, forcing Thomas to match him from four feet.

Jon Rahm and Nicolai Højgaard TIE with Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

Rookie Højgaard enjoyed a dream start as he holed from 47 feet on the first and also birdied the seventh and eighth to give the European pair a two-hole lead. Scheffler was doing the majority of the heavy lifting for the U.S. duo and got the match back level before Koepka’s birdie on the 15th edged them in front. Højgaard drove the green on the 16th but Rahm chipped in for eagle, only for Scheffler to almost hole his tee-shot on the 17th. Rahm was not finished though, holing from 33 feet on the 18th for another eagle to tie the match.

Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre TIE with Max Homa and Wyndham Clark

The European pair took an early lead but lost the fifth, seventh and ninth to reach the turn two down. Rose twice halved the deficit before MacIntyre hit a superb tee-shot on the reachable 16th, only to three-putt from long range and lose the hole to Clark’s birdie. MacIntyre and Homa narrowly missed birdie putts on the 18th but Rose held his nerve to snatch another ½ point for the European side with a nine-foot putt, with the rest of his team there to celebrate with the pair.

Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick beat Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele 5&3

Fitzpatrick began the week with an 0-5 record but instantly made the most of his first four-ball start, making birdies on the second, third and fourth and then driving the green on the short fifth to set up an eagle. The 2022 U.S. Open Champion went six under on his own ball with a birdie on the sixth before McIlroy got in on the act on the next to put Europe 6 UP, but they went off the boil before securing a 5&3 win on the 15th.