A glance at Friday play in the Ryder Cup

He and Pieters were 2 up on the 16th hole, with Kuchar already in for a birdie, when the four-time major champion drained his 20-foot putt.

And Rory McIlroy was supported by Thomas Pieters as they beat Dustin Johnson and Kuchar.

Rafa Cabrera Bello had no issue with Darren Clarke’s decision to split up his dynamic partnership with Sergio Garcia on the second day of the Ryder Cup.

“Unfortunately the European team weren’t quite firing on all cylinders this morning and the American team rightly took advantage of that and played some wonderful golf”. Europe needs 14 points to retain the trophy while the Americans need 14 1/2 points to take the Cup for the first time since 2008. Being ahead’s great. I keep telling our guys, there’s eight points a day and then there’s 12 points on Sunday. On Saturday, he was very emotional after made putts by both he and Pieters, leading him to bark at the crowd several times when the hecklers got on to him.

Big Afternoon: The U.S. team came through in the afternoon better ball sessions, winning three of four matches to build its lead.

The European duo had lost 3&2 to Spieth and Reed in the morning but gained immediate revenge as Rose made six birdies on his ball and Stenson seven to earn their team a much-needed first blue point of the week in front of boisterous fans.

Koepka began his Ryder Cup debut with a wedge he almost holed, only for Willett to match his birdie with a 30-footer.

“We got hot this morning and then the opposite happened this afternoon”, said Love III. “And it’s extremely exciting”. Spieth and Reed matched two of those birdies. 2 and 3 and again on Nos. “It’s not an ideal start by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve come back from deficits like this in the past”.

Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson fell behind Garcia and Kaymer on the second hole, and watched as Garcia egged on the pro-US crowd with a 25-foot par putt on No. 4. They managed just one birdie through the 16 holes in the alternate-shot format and got beat 3 and 2 by Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. It skipped across the water, but rolled back down the bank. We went out there with the mind-set of, if we could just win this session somehow, we would be right back in it.

FAN ENGAGEMENT: Snedeker had a scary moment on Friday when his tee shot on No. 9 hit a female fan in the head.

Garcia knows something about rookies making their mark in the Ryder Cup.

US captain Davis Love III at least could take consolation in a 5-3 lead, though the Americans wasted a chance to put Europe in a big hole. His only missed cut in 21 events worldwide was at The Players Championship, and he tied for fifth in successive weeks at the Olympics and the Wyndham Championship.

“They had some fun this afternoon”, Love said. “It’s just part of the whole Ryder Cup thing”. “It was tough out there”. I played a little bit tight and my man here got me to hit some shots in the end and hit some iron shots and got the best out of me.