Donald Trump gripped Bryson DeChambeau’s hand firmly. The American golfer was grinning again after the misery of a 4&3 beatdown from Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton in Ryder Cup foursomes an hour earlier.
The President’s demeanour then turned serious though. DeChambeau, partnering Ben Griffin in the first fourball match after a damaging and stunning 3-1 defeat in the morning session, is a good friend of Trump, and holds a government role as the chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, a role confirmed by Trump at the White House.
But this interaction was less one of friends and more a pep talk between player and coach, perhaps illustrating an ability to usurp the influence of USA captain Keegan Bradley.
“We just had the President fly over in Air Force One. I think things are gonna turn here,” said Bradley, perhaps desperate for a boost from Trump.
The President, still embracing DeChambeau, then pointed furiously at the first tee, as if to offer clarity as to what DeChambeau and Griffin had to do against Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose. A point and nothing less.
It followed bedlam on the first tee at Bethpage Black, as Trump strolled out with his usual bravado that defied the 3-1 deficit the hosts were confronting. This Ryder Cup has increasingly been about Trump, with his press secretary claiming that the president “saved” it by signing an executive order to prevent a Long Island railroad strike. DeChambeau even joined than stance and credited his “decisive leadership” on the matter.
There were masses of security officers and a shielded corner on this 8,000-strong grandstand with a bulletproof screen. The play, apparently, was for Trump to watch on from behind it, yet that lasted a matter of minutes, with the temptation to embrace both the players and fans proving too much. A peculiar announcement on the first tee followed, the American pairing, followed by the crucial x-factor: “accompanied by the President of the United States: Donald J. Trump.”
From the 8,000-strong grandstand that wraps around the 18th green and 1st tee, one fan could be heard: “We need you out on the course!” At 79 years of age and several club championships to his name, he says, Trump is more than useful out on the course.
Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay had belatedly displayed pride in the final match of the foursomes session, delivering a first American point, yet Trump’s arrival brought something more potent. A distraction.
Team USA had clearly not handled the pressure well hours earlier, with the world No 1 Scottie Scheffler unravelling. Again.
Scheffler has been by far the best player in the world since that crushing 9&7 beatdown to Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland in Rome two years ago. He has been 1.2 more strokes better that anybody else teeing it up this week in terms of strokes gained since that historic match at Marco Simone.
At one point he had lost 13 of his previous 17 holes in the format.
It had all started so well for the Americans, too. A giddy Bradley remarked shortly after 7am with the sun emerging on the horizon: “Did you see what he just did? That’s why we have him there!” A booming Bryson DeChambeau drive towered over the cluster of trees on the 397-yard first hole at Bethpage Black, softly nestling in the trimmed down bank barely a few yards from the green.
It has been a buzz all week; whispers around DeChambeau’s fierce intent to send a ball into orbit and slash off the corner of the conventional route to the green. He had hoped for “a tsunami of a wave of support” and it certainly arrived. The 32-year-old turned around on the tee box, shoulders adjacent to the crowd, drowning in adulation.
But after Thomas delivered an ordinary chip, DeChambeau rolled in the putt for the perfect start. A hole won almost entirely by himself, but it proved the last in a brutal 15-hole run. Scheffler and Henley, the No 3 player in the world no less, couldn’t resist Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick. While the unlikely duo of Collin Morikawa and Harris English, a combination Data Golf had ranked 132nd out of 132 potential combinations for Team USA, were thrashed by Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood.
The end for DeChambeau and Thomas came on 16. From the tee, previously a dangerous weapon for DeChambeau, this time his drive spiralled out right, prompting a begrudging arm stretched out to signal a warning to those in the vicinity. It nestled alongside a recycling bin, with the end of the contest just minutes later.
Yet DeChambeau emerged glowing just an hour later when Trump greeted him, having transformed the atmosphere to shift the momentum and lift the gloom surrounding an expectant and rowdy USA crowd. Bradley and co. didn’t realise they needed Trump’s influence on Friday, but the timing might just salvage their chances of reclaiming the cup.
