Europe captain Padraig Harrington has dropped Rory McIlroy from Saturday’s morning foursome matches after the first two-loss day of the four-time Major winner’s Ryder Cup career.
McIlroy, a member of four European winning teams, struggled when paired with England’s Ian Poulter in a 5 & 3 foursome loss on Friday to Americans Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
In afternoon fourballs, McIlroy and Ireland’s Shane Lowry fell 4 & 3 to Americans Tony Finau and Harris English.
The Americans seized a 6-2 lead after the opening day of the biennial team golf showdown at Whistling Straits, the largest day-one US edge since 1975.
ALSO READ: US have Europe in dire straits in quest to reclaim Ryder Cup
Asked about McIlroy before the pairings were released on Friday, Harrington praised the Northern Ireland star.
“He’s already a leader,” Harrington said. “You saw him out there after a tough day. He was out following those matches and supporting his team. He is very much a leader amongst his peers.
“I couldn’t have asked more from him during the year. I couldn’t have asked more from him today.
“Yeah, the golf didn’t go as well as he would have liked, but I’m not second-guessing him for a second in terms of his leadership and what he does for my team.”
Harrington also said he was happy with the pairings he made.
“I’m very comfortable again with the team I’ve put out tomorrow,” he said. “Wait and see in each of those matches whether they can create their own momentum and then bring that to the team.”
ALSO READ: Europe vow fightback at Ryder Cup after dismal day one
The Saturday morning foursome pairings start with Americans Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger facing Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm in a matchup of two day-one foursome winners.
Americans Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, also first-day foursome winners, will meet Englishmen Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton.
Americans Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas meet Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
Cantlay and Schauffele return to play England’s Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Also sitting out Saturday morning for Europe will be Poulter, Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood.
“From the very start of this, we identified some groups that would be very good in foursomes,” US captain Steve Stricker said. “And we feel really comfortable with them.
“We won that session 3-1. So, in our mind, it’s like, you know what, let’s just send those four groups right back out there again.”
Pairings for Saturday morning’s foursomes matches:
Brooks Koepka/Daniel Berger (USA) vs Sergio Garcia/Jon Rahm (EUR)
Dustin Johnson/Collin Morikawa (USA) vs Paul Casey/Tyrrell Hatton (EUR)
Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas (USA) vs Viktor Hovland/Bernd Wiesberger (EUR)
Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele (USA) vs Lee Westwood/Matthew Fitzpatrick (EUR)
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: EPA/Erik S. Lesser
