Flustered Zach Johnson set tone for horror Ryder Cup start as Luke Donald led with poise

The 44th edition of the Ryder Cup had all the hallmarks of a thrilling event between two evenly matched teams, but the opening session was dominated by Europe as Zach Johnson made a series of errors

Zach Johnson (left) and his American team could not have made a worse start at the Ryder Cup. (

Image: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Luke Donald and his European team could not have dreamed of a better start to the Ryder Cup, and they benefitted from a helping hand from Team USA captain Zach Johnson.

Johnson has set the tone for a miserable opening session at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, not only with poor decisions before a 4-0 drubbing in the Friday foursomes but also his flustered demeanour compared to his counterpart.

While Donald charmed the crowd at the opening ceremony with his rallying cries in Italian on Thursday, Johnson fumbled his words and seemed to cut a chaotic figure in the press conference. With an unbuttoned shirt and his tie loosened, he looked like a best man at a lively wedding disco, failing to digest the questions of the assembled journalists and needing them to be repeated on numerous occasions.

The 47-year-old, a two-time major champion, appeared like the man coming to the end of an ordeal, rather than a captain ready to lead 12 men into one of the great battles in sport. The fact his team turned down media interviews after Thursday’s ceremony, unlike the Europeans, only raised more questions about the thought process in the American team room.

Then there were Johnson’s pairings for the opening session. Setting the right tone is pivotal; Europe’s comeback in the Solheim Cup a week ago after falling 4-0 behind was an anomaly.

So it was perplexing to see Scottie Scheffler, the number one player on the planet, paired with his good friend Sam Burns. The only logic behind their selection as a duo to lead off against Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton is their friendship because their games do not complement each other and they were a poor pairing at the President’s Cup a year ago.

Burns – an out-of-form captain’s selection – being chosen for the foursomes was a bizarre call, given the 27-year-old’s waywardness off the tee. And it only appeared even more strange when major champions Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Jordan Speith and Wyndham Clark were left waiting in the wings.

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Luke Donald (left) could not have wished for a better start at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome. (

Image:

Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

It was an enormous gamble from Johnson, and it backfired horribly. The European duo went wire to wire to win 4&3, with Scheffler’s abilities inhibited by a startled Burns, faltering in the biggest moment of his career so far.

The second pairing was equally curious, with rookies Brian Harman and Max Homa pushed out the door together to take on Scandinavian prodigies Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg. Europe soon had control in that match, too, with Harman’s lack of distance off the tee putting his partner in parts of the course he was not familiar with.

The much-fancied pairings of Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were also victims of a blue blitz that brought Europe’s first opening session clean sweep in the history of the competition.

Every decision made by Johnson failed to produce, and his opportunities to inspire his players were underwhelming to say the least. Donald, on the other hand, masterminded a perfect morning for the boys in blue, playing the foursomes first for the first time in 30 years because it is his players’ preferred format.

Once the Friday fourballs got underway, Johnson was left looking for a response from his players, but with the home crowd in party mode after a jubilant morning, it will be much easier said than done having appeared shellshocked across the early exchanges on and off the course

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