FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Like a simmering motorist stuck bumper-to-bumper on the Long Island Expressway, Rory McIlroy had already done New York proud by flipping the bird to a heckler near the 11th hole at Bethpage Black.
Now under the final glimmers of sunlight on the 18th green, the Northern Irishman had a chance to give the region the ultimate middle finger. He had a putt to win his fourball match with teammate Shane Lowry, at the expense of Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns, to complete an epic day of Euro butt-kicking on American soil.
McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood had already dominated their morning foursomes match with Collin Morikawa and Harris English, and Rory had already drained huge putts on the 16th and 17th in the afternoon to keep it a tied game. This was the Ryder Cup haymaker to give Team Europe a 6-2 lead after eight matches.
The Americans wouldn’t be able to get off the canvas if this one went in.
So the fans in the grandstand chanted “Roar-ree…Roar-ree” in a haunting tone as McIlroy measured the final putt of an endlessly long day, an ultra-makeable mid-range look after a Burns miss from about the same distance. Before Rory cut loose, a fan shouted, “U.S. Open,” a cheap-shot reference to the putting misadventures that cost him the 2024 major at Pinehurst.
Rory then settled over his ball and sent his bid on its way in the shadows, and after Burns went barely wide right, McIlroy went barely wide left to cheers that sounded far more like relief than joy. He let his putter fly out of his hands, head over heels, and that was that. The Europeans had to settle for half a point and an overall three-point lead heading into Saturday.
And yet this was a major opportunity missed by the Americans. They had a chance to beat McIlroy, to prove they could make Europe’s heart and soul bleed, and instead they gave him 1 1/2 points on the day.
That’s 1 1/2 points more than were scored by U.S. heavyweights Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau, combined.
“A great day for Europe,” McIlroy called it.
A day the Americans could not afford to have.
It all started bright and early. After the fans were treated to John Denver’s “Country Roads” and Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” along with a distant sun rising above the trees and toward a pastel sky, McIlroy’s appearance was met with loud boos.
He wasn’t even present for this greeting — the fans were merely reacting to the videoboard image of Rory on the practice range. They cursed him in a brief chant, and then really let him have it when he arrived on the tee in the flesh with Fleetwood. None of it mattered.
Before he could make his birdie attempt on the first green, some fans chanted “U.S. Open” for the first time. McIlroy made the putt and the European fans around the green erupted.
Rory McIlroy, left, and Tommy Fleetwood again teamed up for a win on Friday. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
McIlroy was playing his fifth hole when a loud-and-proud fan to his right decided it was time to send a stern morning message. The man was wearing a patriotic headband and an American flag as a cape, and he either did not know or did not care about McIlroy’s recent declaration of love for all things red, white, and blue.
“We’re going to be in your ear all day, Rory,” the man shouted. “All day.”
On cue, McIlroy curled in a birdie putt to give his foursomes partnership with Fleetwood a three-hole lead over Morikawa and English before anyone on site had time to consider a third cup of coffee. The Northern Irishman raised his putter with his left hand and pumped his fist with his right on his way to a blowout victory that reminded the combatants on both sides that all roads run through Rory.
He is the lead actor in this three-day drama. Luke Donald is the captain of Team Europe, and an impressive one at that. But McIlroy is the true leader of this side, the one who will go down as the finest golfer in the history of the continent.
Team USA will not prevail if it allows McIlroy to turn Bethpage Black into a showcase for his generational talent and willpower.
The next time a fan shouted “U.S. Open,” McIlroy responded with yet another birdie at No. 8, stepping into the putt just before it fell into the cup. This was all part of a morning surge that saw the first three matches end in the visitors’ favor before reaching the 16th tee. Europe had never won the first three matches on American soil, and it had been nearly three-quarters of a century since either side had won three matches in the opening session by at least four holes.
The whole thing left the American captain, Keegan Bradley, reeling and hoping out loud that President Trump’s Air Force One flyover and arrival at the event would turn the tide.
It never happened. The Europeans spent the day taking the New York out of the New Yorkers, leaving the Bethpage Black environment best described as subdued.
McIlroy could have made it worse with a victory over his dear friend Cantlay, whom he called a nasty name in a published report after their Saturday dustup in Rome two years ago. That one devolved into a near fistfight between Rory and Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, and just about anyone else who owned a U.S. passport.
Times have changed … for now. McIlroy opened the public portion of this Ryder Cup week with a charm offensive and an ode to the good ol’ U-S-of-A, calling it “a wonderful place” and “the greatest country in the world.”
Truth is, very few foreign-born public figures have aced the American experience quite like Rory has. He is beloved in the U.S. for 103 weeks every two years even though he takes a heel turn in that 104th week and becomes a bold, trash-talking Euro-villain bent on destroying Uncle Sam and all of his golf-loving nephews.
Two years ago, McIlroy celebrated a Ryder Cup smackdown of Team USA in Rome by saying, “I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup, and that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.”
There were some Long Islanders in the crowd on Friday who recalled Joe Namath talking like that while quarterbacking his football team in Queens.
The Northern Irishman is quite capable of willing that victory into existence. At 36, McIlroy has already contributed to five winning Ryder Cup teams.
If the Americans don’t act immediately, Rory is going to make it six on Sunday.
(Top photo of Rory McIlroy: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
