McIlroy to sit Ryder Cup session after rough day

09/25/2021

Senior golf writer for ESPN.com
Covered golf for more than 20 years
Earned Evans Scholarship to attend Indiana University

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — For the first time in his Ryder Cup career, Rory McIlroy will sit out a session of the event when play resumes Saturday morning.

McIlroy, 32, is one of the European Ryder Cup team’s leaders, having competed in all 24 sessions from 2010 through 2018 and compiling an 11-9-4 record while the team won four of five times.

But McIlroy struggled on Friday, losing in the morning session with Ian Poulter to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 5 and 3. In the afternoon, with Shane Lowry, he lost to Tony Finau and Harris English 4 and 3. Neither match made it to the 16th hole.

The U.S leads 6-2.

European captain Padraig Harrington spoke to the media before the pairings were released and would not reveal whether McIlroy was playing.

“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 and 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.”

Poulter is also sitting out the morning session on Saturday after playing just once Friday. One of Europe’s star players over the years, he is now 14-7-2 in his seventh Ryder Cup. He has never lost at singles.

The foursomes matchups will see the same teams for the Americans as those that posted a 3-1 lead Friday morning.

Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger play against Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm starting at 8:05 a.m. ET followed by Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa against Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton at 8:21 a.m. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas take on Viktor Hovland and Bernd Wiesberger at 8:37 a.m., and the last group is Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele against Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick at 8:53 a.m.

The morning foursomes session will be followed by four four-ball matches in the afternoon.

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