Europe maintains five point lead at 2023 Ryder Cup

Viktor Hovland (Twitter)

For the second consecutive day at the 2023 Ryder Cup, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg made Ryder Cup history in Rome, Italy. On Friday, Aberg became the first golfer ever to compete at the Ryder Cup when he has never golfed before at a major championship. On Saturday, Aberg teamed up with Viktor Hovland of Norway in the most lopsided 18-hole match in the history of the Ryder Cup.

Aberg and Hovland teamed up to beat Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9&7 in foursome action. Aberg and Hovland won nine of the first 11 holes outright. The only two holes where they were not victorious were the fifth and seventh holes, where the European and American teams both birdied the fifth hole, and both posted scores of par on the seventh hole.

Scheffler and Koepka struggled mightily in the early going. They posted scores of six on the first and third holes. The fact that Scheffler and Koepka could not gel whatsoever on Saturday was surprising when you consider the fact they combined for six major titles. Scheffler won the 2022 Masters Tournament and Koepka won the 2017 and 2018 United States Open, and the 2018, 2019 and 2023 PGA Championship.

Team Europe won four more matches on Saturday. Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood beat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 2&1, while Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton beat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay 2&1 in foursome action. Then in four ball action, Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre beat Thomas and Spieth 3&2. With Europe now leading 10.5 to 5.5, they only need four more wins on Sunday in singles action to win the 2023 Ryder Cup.