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Shane Lowry admitted he \u201clost it\u201d on the first tee at the Ryder Cup after Europe got off to a dream start in Rome on Friday.<\/p>\n
Europe claimed a 4-0 first-session clean sweep for the first time in the competition\u2019s history as they beat the United States in all four foursomes matches on the opening day at Marco Simone.<\/p>\n
The fireworks began early as Viktor Hovland, playing in the second match of the day, chipped in for birdie at the first hole.<\/p>\n
That not only fired up his playing partner Ludvig Aberg as they went on to beat Max Homa and Brian Harman 4&3, but inspired Lowry, who was playing in the next match and watching on the big screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stood on the first tee trying to stay calm, and I\u2019m watching Viktor on the big screen and he chipped in, and I lost it,\u201d said Lowry, who combined with Sepp Straka for a 2&1 win over Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s what the Ryder Cup does to me. It\u2019s a very special tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton beating Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns 4&3 in the top match, Tommy Fleetwood was also fuelled by the success of his team-mates.<\/p>\n
Fleetwood, who recorded a 2&1 win over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in partnership with Rory McIlroy, said: \u201cIt was sort of nice being that last group out and seeing all the blue on the board and hearing the cheers. I think me and Rory were just very aware that we wanted to make sure we kept that momentum going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home captain Luke Donald had opted to play the foursomes matches first to help the side get off to a \u201cfast start\u201d in their stronger pairings format.<\/p>\n
The team revealed they had also played some mini-competitions in practice to help sharpen their games.<\/p>\n
Fleetwood said: \u201cEverybody that was playing together, we just played some three-hole matches. That was something we just added into the practice rounds this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess it was the perfect execution of a plan where everybody got going early and nobody let up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lowry, who is playing in his first home Ryder Cup, relished the atmosphere and hopes to experience plenty more of it.<\/p>\n
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The Irishman, Open champion in 2019, said: \u201cObviously I\u2019m very fortunate to have a Claret Jug in my house but, when I finish my career, I really want one, if not multiple, of these under my belt as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love it. This is, honestly, the most special week in golf. There\u2019s a reason it\u2019s the greatest tournament in golf.\u201d<\/p>\n