Ryder Cup 2025: Europe extends its lead by winning three Saturday morning foursomes matches

If Team USA’s run is coming in this Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, it better be on Saturday afternoon.

After three wins in four foursomes matches Saturday morning, Team Europe has a second straight Ryder Cup victory in its sights.

The Europeans extended their lead to 8 1/2-3 1/2 and went 6-2 in eight total foursomes matches between Friday and Saturday. Europe became the first team to win each of the first three sessions of an away Ryder Cup.

“So far, we're doing the job,” said Viktor Hovland, who, alongside Robert MacIntyre, earned a 1-up win over Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley in the morning’s final match. “But there's still a long ways to go and we've just got to keep our foot down and keep playing well.”

Tommy Fleetwood further cemented himself among the European greats, as he and Rory McIlroy partnered for a 3-and-2 win over Harris English and Collin Morikawa. Fleetwood is 10-3-2 all-time in the Ryder Cup, owning the highest career winning percentage among the 51 European players to appear in at least 10 matches.

Both Fleetwood and Jon Rahm hold 6-0 career foursomes records in the Ryder Cup, tied for the best foursomes winning percentage in event history (minimum five matches).

Rahm’s sixth victory also came Saturday morning, when he and Tyrrell Hatton defeated Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, 3-and-2. Rahm hit the shot of the tournament thus far  on the eighth hole, where he was standing on the edge of a greenside bunker and chipped in from the rough.

American captain Keegan Bradley kept three of the foursomes pairings that lost Friday. He again sent out English and Morikawa, who rank 132nd of 132 optimal foursomes pairings for the U.S., according to Data Golf. Cameron Young and Bryson DeChambeau were the only new U.S. foursome pairing.

Scheffler fell to 0-3 and has not won any of his past seven Ryder Cup matches. He and Henley had an opportunity to tie their match on 18, but Scheffler  shanked a wedge from the  fairway into the rough, essentially ending his pairing's of achieving a much-needed point.

Once again for Team USA, the lone bright spot involved Young, who is from Scarborough in Westchester County. Young and DeChambeau earned a 4-and-2 win over Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg in the first match of the day. Young is the first American rookie to win his first two Ryder Cup matches by four holes each since Patrick Reed in 2014.

“It's been a lot of fun,” Young said. “This is the kind of stuff you dream of, and we've performed well over the last couple days and having gotten a few points on the board is pretty awesome.”

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.