Europe made a dominant start to their Ryder Cup defence as they won three of the four morning foursomes matches at Bethpage Back.
The United States have long since been considered the favourites to triumph on home soil, with Europe having failed to win on American soil since the Miracle at Medinah in 2012.
Yet the weight of history was clearly no burden on Luke Donald’s team, as they quieted the raucous crowd in New York by putting themselves in an excellent position going into the afternoon fourballs.
Rahm and Hatton strike first
The USA made a hot start to the first foursomes contest, with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas combining to win the opening hole with a birdie on the par four.
But they were unable to build on that early advantage, with the disappointing putting of Thomas in stark contrast to that of Rahm and Hatton as they grew in confidence, tying things up at the seventh and then winning four of the next eight holes to clinch a 4&3 victory.
The decisive blow came at the 15th, when Thomas sent an unconvincing par putt wide to the right of the hole.
McIlroy and Fleetwood win in style
While DeChambeau and Thomas were well matched with Rahm and Hatton, it quickly became very apparent that the pairing of Collin Morikawa and Harris English had little chance of competing with Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood.
An opening birdie gave the European pair an edge they never relinquished, with McIllroy and Fleetwood holding a five-hole advantage with just eight played. Morikawa and English stemmed the tide at the ninth, but their belated reply only served to delay then inevitable.
A 5&4 win was sealed when Fleetwood tidied up after McIlroy missed with a 30-foot putt for birdie.
Scheffler stunned
The most jarring result of the opening session for the USA will have been the emphatic loss suffered by world number one Scottie Scheffler and partner Russell Henley.
That duo were stunned by the pair of Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick in a 5&3 loss.
Aberg’s opening birdie putt was matched by an eight-footer from Scheffler at the second, but Aberg and Fitzpatrick produced inspired golf thereafter, delivering birdies at three of the next four holes.
Scheffler has excelled at overturning deficits on the PGA Tour and on the major circuit, but he and Henley never looked like producing a turnaround, and a 15-footer from Fitzpatrick at the 15th secured the victory.
USA win final match
It was not until the final match of the session that the USA were able to get on the board, with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay triumphing over Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland
Schauffele and Cantlay appeared to have the match in hand when they went three up at the 11th.
But Hovland holed successive birdie putts at 12 and 13 before a USA bogey at 15th levelled the match.
Yet the USA recovered their lead as a wayward tee shot into the bunker from MacIntyre at the 17th proved costly. Hovland then went right off the tee at the last, effectively gifting a 2UP win to the USA pair.
Fourballs pairings confirmed
Hovland and MacIntyre were both omitted from the fourballs by Donald, with Rasmus Hojgaard and Shane Lowry getting their first taste of the action.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton were also left out, with Sepp Straka coming in for the opening match of the session and Ryder Cup veteran Justin Rose taking his place alongside Tommy Fleetwood.
U.S. Open champion JJ Spaun makes his Ryder Cup debut in the fourballs, as does Ben Griffin, with Sam Burns and Cameron Young also coming in.
Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa and Harris English were all dropped for the fourballs by captain Keegan Bradley
Fourballs matches
5.25pm: Scottie Scheffler and JJ Spaun v Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka
5.41pm: Ben Griffin and Bryson DeChambeau v Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose
5.57pm: Cameron Young and Justin Thomas v Ludvig Åberg and Rasmus Højgaard
6.13pm: Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay v Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry
