Rory McIlroy heralds ‘great day’ as Europe open lead at Ryder Cup

Luke Donald’s side led the United States 5.5-2.5 after a memorable Friday at Bethpage Black where McIlroy was at the centre of the action.

After his ‘Fleetwood Mac’ reunion ended in perfect harmony as he and an on-song Tommy Fleetwood thumped Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5&4 in the morning fourballs, he was engulfed in a thrilling fourballs battle where drama was never far away.

It came down to the last putt where the Northern Irishman was millimetres away from giving his side a 6-2 first-day lead. Instead he and Shane Lowry had to settle for a half against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay.

But there was controversy on the 11th hole as McIlroy appeared to gesture towards someone in the crowd as he walked off the 11th green.

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He and his partner Lowry had just gone two up when he responded to an unkown comment from the crowd.

That did not take the shine off the day for McIlroy, who was able to reflect on a strong start for Europe, even though his missed putt on the 18th hole stung.

“Obviously right now, I’m disappointed I didn’t hole out for a full point,” McIlroy said on the 18th green.

“But it’s been a great day for Europe. We have come out of the gates really strong like we wanted to.

“Yeah, we should be really proud of ourselves.

“We would have absolutely taken this last night if you had told us we would be 5.5-2.5 up.

“Obviously in the moment right now, I’m disappointed I didn’t hole that for a full point but the guys have done so well, and right now, it’s just about recovering and resting up and getting ready for Saturday.”

Earlier, European Robert MacIntyre had a spat with an American member of the crowd following a comment made about his weight on the 17th tee.

Much had been made of the Bethpage Black crowd in the build-up to the tournament and how they were expected to make it a hostile “bear pit”.

But McIlroy and Co helped keep them largely quiet.

On the crowd’s antics, he added: “It was what we sort of expected. It was rowdy and lively. They made it difficult for us.

“You know, but I felt like Shane and I, we handled that really well and dug in. Made some good swings and good putts when we needed to.”

Captain Luke Donald was not aware of the incident on the 11th, but praised the way his team handled the spectators.

“I’m not aware of that,” he said. “But you know, I was definitely proud of the guys, how they handled the situation, a tough environment out there.”