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The 43rd Ryder Cup got underway Friday morning in Kohler, Wisconsin. Clenched fists and nervousness settled into players and spectators alike as the possibility of another United States shortcoming appeared possible. The U.S. Team put their best foot forward on Friday, quieting the doubters who proposed this crop of new stars are just like the old.
Getting off to a tremendous start once again was the United States Team. Holding a commanding 6-2 lead after completion of Day 1 play, the European side has their work cut out for them if they expect to make this thing interesting.
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With no strokes gained data, there isn’t too much we can rely on statistically outside of what we watched and shot tracker. The United States as a whole, outside of a few moments, looked top-to-bottom stronger than their counterparts, which is the least bit surprising.
However, if we are looking for the standard wagers that we indulge in, it is likely we need to side with the Europeans to some extent. This makes our job a bit difficult, but also a bit fun, as we look for some possible angles on PointsBet Sportsbook.
Updated Odds to Win the Ryder Cup (Odds Via PointsBet):
-1000: United States
+900: Europe
+1600: Draw
Updated Odds to Lift the Ryder Cup (Odds Via PointsBet):
-1000: United States
+600: Europe
Ryder Cup Day 2 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Day Two Foursomes Winner: United States (-134)
I had every intention of rolling with the Europeans in some sort of wager, but once the matches were released, I thought better of it. I have a very hard time trying to understand what Captain Padraig Harrington is going to accomplish tomorrow morning with these pairings.
Sitting Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood is not the path to victory if you’re on Team Europe. Yes, McIlroy was poor today as he lost both his matches for the first-time in his Ryder Cup career. Yet, he is one of the few Europeans who can go toe-to-toe with any player on the U.S. Team.
While I believe the Europeans could put together a strong effort, mainly in those first three matches, eventually I believe the chips will fall towards the United States as they did today. In the first match, the U.S. Team will have their hands full with Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia. However, between the Spanish duo’s putting heroics and the lack thereof for the former Florida State Seminoles and this one very well could come down to wire.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger asked Steve Stricker to go out first to try to stick a nail in the European coffin, adding some intangibles to this match. From there, it’s hard to side against Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa based on how they played today. Given Paul Casey is across from them, who had a rough go on Friday, and Tyrrell Hatton could be on an island by himself in the morning session.
In the third match, I do believe Bernd Wiesberger and Viktor Hovland are being disrespected. However, Spieth and Thomas made absolutely nothing on the greens this morning and still played their foursomes match in a bogey-free 3-under fashion through the first 16-holes.
Enough has been said about Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele and their thumping of Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter only added to the fire. They get arguably the weakest duo of Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
There will be some fight from the European side, don’t get me wrong, and the first few holes may see plenty of blue on the leaderboard, but the U.S. Team will begin the afternoon session with an even larger lead.
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