"Everyone of them is feisty" - US Captain Zach Johnson optimistic about Ryder Cup momentum shift despite 'low energy' woes  

A record-breaking 4-0 session on Friday at the Ryder Cup by the European team deteriorated the chances of the American team to retain the trophy in 2023. At the biennial event, the European team decimated the American squad by winning five of the eight matches on the first day.

The American squad, on the other hand, remains upbeat about the competition and hopes to improve on the second day. Their skipper Zach Johnson remarked that they may get back in the game since all 12 of the players are eager to take home the title.

Speaking to the media, Johnson said (via Rydercup.com):

"Because of the 12 guys in my team room. Every one of them is feisty. Every one of them is hungry. Every one of them plays golf for the right reasons in the Ryder Cup.”

It was a trifecta of mistakes, errors and mishaps why the USA team has been struggling to retain the Ryder Cup title.

Below are the first day results of the 2023 Ryder Cup:

Friday foursome results

• Rahm & Hatton 4&3 over Scheffler & Burns
• Hovland & Aberg 4&3 over Homa & Harman
• Lowry & Straka 2&1 over Morikawa & Fowler
• McIlroy & Fleetwood 2&1 over Cantlay & Schauffele

Friday four-ball results

• Spieth & Thomas TIED Hovland & Hatton
• Koepka & Spieth TIED Rahm & Hojgaard
• Homa & Clark TIED Rose & MacIntyre
• McIlroy & Fitzpatrick 5&3 over Schauffele & Morikawa

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Zach Johnson says illness affected the US game at the Ryder Cup

In a press conference after the first day at the 2023 Ryder Cup, Zach Johnson revealed that a bug is responsible for players 'low energy' on the golf course.

He said that there was a bug that spread around the US Team room and caused illness. He acknowledged that it was not an excuse and that the team would try to get back in the game on the weekend.

The US skipper said that there were some "unforeseen" things that the team needed to navigate to get back in the game.

Speaking about the US team's performance on the first day of the Ryder Cup, Johnson said:

"Well, we have contingencies based on a lot of things. You know, I would say that we’d love to have everything drawn out way, way ahead of time. But there’s certain things you cannot control, and we are trying to control the controllables in our team room, and I’ll leave it at that.”

“The bottom line is there’s been some unforeseen things that we’ve had to navigate around, which is really unfortunate, in the sense of health. It’s not an excuse, because we have depth, but I’ll just say, I’m grateful we have a team doctor," he added.

The golfers will tee off for the Saturday foursome matches at 1:35 a.m. ET at Marco Simone Golf Course in Rome, Italy.