Europeans storm back to take Ryder Cup lead after Day 1

After falling behind in morning matches on Friday, Europe dominated the U.S. in late foursomes to grab control of the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson led the comeback, winning both of their matches to give the Europeans a 5-3 lead after the first day of the three-day event.

“Yeah, it was a great day at the office,” Stenson said. “I felt comfortable with Justin by my side and we played even better in the afternoon than in the morning.”

Friday’s play was marked by tricky greens and cold winds blowing across the fairways. There were also questions about why U.S. captain Tom Watson chose to bench rookies Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed after they played well in their morning debut.

The Europeans subsequently grabbed the lead even though Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, their top pair, produced only a half-point in two tries. Others filled in the gap.

Jamie Donaldson and Lee Westwood defeated Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar. Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell beat Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, who seemed to lose steam at the end.

Play resumes with more fourballs and foursomes on Saturday.

“We’ll put today behind us,” the Americans’ Rickie Fowler said. “We know what we need to do tomorrow.”