After splitting the Friday morning foursomes two apiece, the Americans got out to a quick start; by 1:45 PM CT, the Americans had won eight holes to a single win for the European side. By 6:20 p.m. CT, the only thing preventing an American sweep was a 29-year-old Belgian Ryder Cup rookie, who stared down a Tiger.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOUR-BALLS SUMMARY:
MATCH 1 
Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson def. Paul Lawrie and Peter Hanson, 5 & 4
Not just defeated... destroyed.
MATCH 2
Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley def. Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, 2 & 1
Mickelson seems to have found a good, strong partner in Keegan Bradley, who played just as well on Friday afternoon as he did in the morning.
MATCH 3 
Nicolas Colsaerts and Lee Westwood def. Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods, 1 up
Actually, Nicolas Colsaerts single-handedly defeated Woods and Stricker. Colsaerts had eight birdies and one eagle, and almost birdied holes 1 and 3, to boot. The great Eddy Merckx remains Belgium's greatest sports hero, but Nicolas Colsaerts certainly will get some well-deserved attention in the press next week. He was a rock, while Westwood went wobbly.
MATCH 4
Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar def. Martin Kaymer and Justin Rose, 3 & 2
Kaymer and Rose won only the first hole, gave back the lead at the second, and had no chance after that. Kuchar birdied 4, 5, 6, and 7, while Dustin birdied two holes on the inward nine.
 |  |
| 3 | 5 |
One interesting note about the player statistics is that everyone has played at least once; this doesn't always happen on Day 1 of a Ryder Cup.
Neither does the mysterious white-space below, so we humbly apologize for it.| Through Friday, September 28 |
| |
| Nicolas Colsaerts | 1-0-0 | 2-0-0 | Keegan Bradley |
| Luke Donald | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | Jason Dufner |
| Sergio Garcia | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | Jim Furyk |
| Peter Hanson | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | Dustin Johnson |
| Martin Kaymer | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | Zach Johnson |
| Paul Lawrie | 0-1-0 | 1-0-0 | Matt Kuchar |
| Graeme McDowell | 1-1-0 | 2-0-0 | Phil Mickelson |
| Rory McIlroy | 1-1-0 | 2-0-0 | Webb Simpson |
| Francesco Molinari | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 | Brandt Snedeker |
| Ian Poulter | 1-0-0 | 0-2-0 | Steve Stricker |
| Justin Rose | 1-1-0 | 1-0-0 | Bubba Watson |
| Lee Westwood | 1-1-0 | 0-2-0 | Tiger Woods |
The broadcast and online schedule is available
here.
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