Day 1 at the Ryder Cup opened with fireworks, but not the kind the Team USA wanted. Fans barely had time to catch up from the losses of the first two matches in the morning before Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood set the course ablaze. They dismantled Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5&4 in a performance that was as ruthless as it was record-breaking. The result? Golf analysts are calling it a bloodbath, and Keegan Bradley is at the center of it.
Analysts on X did not hold back after the disappointing performance. “Toss out Morikawa/English, an alternate shot team that never made a lick of sense, that got steamrolled, again when you’re getting your a** kicked is…something,” wrote Matt Vincenzi from Sports Illustrated. Jason Sobel followed too with a sarcastic jab— “If at first you don’t succeed… send out Morikawa/English again.”
Shane Ryan went even deeper — “And when it works out this poorly, the only logical move is to do it again, ideally against the same team that just waxed you.” And Golf Digest’s Joel Beall didn’t mince his words either, almost suggesting never to send out the duo again, calling it a“malpractice,” while Bob Harig just dropped the facts —“The Morikawa-English pairing was far from inspiring today and is going up against Rory and Tommy.”
To be fair, Day 1 was a nightmare across the board for Team USA. Aside from Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay barely holding ground in the morning session, the rest of the American pairings fell apart.