Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson Getting Annihilated After Questionable Decisions, Nightmare Start From U.S. In Rome

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The opening foursome sessions of the 2023 Ryder Cup on Friday literally could not have gone worse for the Americans, and as captain of the U.S. team, Zach Johnson is taking all the heat.

The Europeans won all four of the opening matches in the most dominant fashion imaginable as the U.S. never took a lead in any of the matches. The Americans were quite literally shut out.

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton set the tone in the opening match with a 4&3 win over the friendly pairing of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg beat Brian Harman and Max Homa by the same score. Only two of the four matches made it to the 17th hole on Friday morning before the Europeans closed out each match.

After going 0-4 Friday morning, the U.S. is now 2-16-2 in foursomes over their last five alternate shot sessions on European soil.

Putting yourself in a 0-4 hole while trying to win your first Ryder Cup on European soil since 1993 isn't an ideal strategy, but it's the reality the U.S. finds itself in.

Johnson wasn't responsible for plenty of missed short putts, wayward tee shots, and chunked chips we saw out of the Americans on Friday morning, but as the captain, every finger gets pointed your direction when things go wrong.

Golf Fans On X Call Out U.S. Captain Zach Johnson

 

 

 

 

 

Hindsight is always 20-20, but Sitting Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Wyndham Clark for morning foursomes looks like a horrendous call from Johnson. Not playing Patrick Cantlay in afternoon fourball, the player who led the PGA Tour in birdie average this season, seems questionable at best as well.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.