Darren Clarke drops huge Ryder Cup hint with European practice pairings

Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler clinched the whitewash against FedEx champ Rory McIlroy and English rookie Andy Sullivan, coming from behind to win 1 up. US captain Davis Love III heard conflicting ideas on the radio and by text message from his assistant captains, all of them weighing in with the best lineup for the final session of team matches.

Justin Rose and Chris Wood held off a late charge from Zach Johnson and Jimmy Walker to notch another point before a remarkable comeback from Sergio Garcia and Rafael Cabrera-Bello ensured their match with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed ended all square.

“You want to set the tone for rest of the team and when they saw us up early, that’s exactly what we were trying to do, get up early on them, put blue on the board and luckily Darren had a lot of faith in us to send us out first”, McIlroy said, before expressing his delight at finally beating Mickelson.

But Europe responded by going 3-1 in four-ball, winning a session in that discipline for the first time since 2010.

The next challenge for the Americans is history.

The Americans, 1-7 in foursomes in 2014, swept four matches Friday for their best Ryder Cup start since 1975. It likely will need points from all of them, and a few more. We’re going to put out our lineup and we’re going to look at each other man-to-man tomorrow.

“So we’ll see how that goes”. “Can’t wait to get back out there”.

But there was better news in match three thanks to a birdie from Rose and Wood on the seventh which won the first hole of the day against Walker and Johnson.

McIlroy also said he wasn’t “fazed by anything said by the crowd”.

“They didn’t get to play. We expect that”, McIlroy said. One fan was heard to shout “Sergio, you suck” during the fourballs, leading Tom Lehman, one of the United States vice-captains, to tell people to calm down. You try to keep your utmost for who you are playing and for who you are supporting.

He said: “It was a long day”.

“The more they shouted, the better we played”. I’m not sure if he was removed or not but these things happen. “They are nearly like waiting for Christmas”, Clarke said. “I tried to get him removed”.

When that putt dropped, there was a demonstrative celebration by McIlroy, which some in the gallery seemed to think was over the top.

PGA Championship victor Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson came from one down after 11 holes to beat Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Germany’s Martin Kaymer 4&2 before Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler delivered the most surprising point of the morning for the Americans. The turning point came on the par-3 eighth when Johnson and Koepka three-putted for bogey, and then McIlroy hit one stiff on the ninth for birdie to go 4 up.

Love was thinking of giving Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth a rest for the afternoon fourballs after Europe had won the morning foursomes 2 1/2 – 1 1/2.

The American pair made the most of that stroke of luck and birdied the next four holes to win 3&2, with any faint European hopes ending when Fitzpatrick found water with his approach to the 16th.

McIlroy and Pieters were playing in their third consecutive match after wins in the Friday fourballs and Saturday foursomes and McIlroy laid down a marker on the second as he holed a 35-footer on the second to go one up.

Europe’s bid for a fourth straight win looked to be doomed after United States of America romped to a 4-0 whitewash in the morning foursomes.