How Rory McIlroy played a ‘psychological’ trick at the Friday fourballs at the 2023 Ryder Cup

The 2023 Ryder Cup is off to a fantastic start for Team Europe, who swept all four of their morning matches against Team USA. With Europe leading the tournament 4-0, the pairings for the afternoon fourball matches were decided, leading to an intense match up of talent.

Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick paired for the fourballs against Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele. On the 6th hole, all players were shooting for a birdie. McIlroy had to make a putt of 24 feet, while Fitzpatrick was sitting at 4 feet 7 inches.

Morikawa was sitting at 16 feet and Schauffele at 5 feet 5 inches. McIlroy had the longest putt out of the four golfers, and had the right to play first. However, Fitzpatrick stepped up instead and birdied his shot.

The broadcast team explained the mental pressure it put on the Americans. They said according to Golf.com:

“What that did is it forced the Americans, instead of putting with the chance of a possible miss by Fitzpatrick, they are now putting solely to tie. The mental gamesmanship between the two sides is very evident there.”

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How did Rory McIlroy take advantage of the rules during the fourballs at day 1 of 2023 Ryder Cup

The general rule of thumb is that the person who is farther away is required to shoot the ball first. Explaining the rather clever trick that McIlroy played, analyst Brad Faxon explained to Golf.com:

“The ball away in match play controls, so you can have your partner go first. That’s what they did and that’s a good strategy.”

Fitzpatrick, who is making his debut at the Ryder Cup, shot four birdies and an eagle in a five-hole stretch, allowing the European team to take the lead. Paul Azinger also praised the duo, saying:

“Excellent strategic move there, right by the book by Rory and Matty Fitzpatrick.”

The trick relieved the pressure off of Fitzpatrick, who would have otherwise been forced to play last in the hopes of halving the score instead.

As Fitzpatrick went in first, the pressure to deliver suddenly shifted to Collin Morikawa instead, and needless to say it worked. McIlroy and Fitzpatrick took a decisive 5-up lead after the 6th hole during the afternoon matches on day 1 of the Ryder Cup.