There were many highlights in Team Europe’s 16.5 to 11.5 win over Team USA at the 2023 Ryder Cup, one of which was a pairing that had never been tried before.
The team put a marker down early at Marco Simone as it became the first European side in history to open up a 4-0 lead after the Friday morning foursomes.
One of those winning matches saw Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy beat Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, and a new favorite pairing was born, with the duo quickly being dubbed “Fleetwood Mac” by fans and the media.
The pair were at it again a day later in the Saturday morning foursomes, closing out another 2&1 win, this time against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. But how had it come together? According to Fleetwood in an exclusive interview with Golf Monthly, contrary to popular opinion, it hadn’t been a last-minute decision.
He said: “I think the whole ‘Fleetwood Mac’ thing took a few people by surprise, and there was a perception that it was a bit of a last-minute combination. But that wasn’t the case at all. It was planned for quite a while, and Rory and I knew about it at least three months before we landed in Rome.”
Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy won both their foursomes matches at Marco Simone
(Image credit: Getty Images)
So, what are the crucial elements of a successful foursomes partnership? Fleetwood admitted that while complementary personalities helped, there is another, more practical factor given that the format sees each teammate play the same ball.
He explained: “Our personalities and games match up pretty well – although it would be hard for anyone not to match up with Rory and profit from it – and we use a very similar TaylorMade golf ball. So there were a lot of things going for us. We have been close to playing together before, particularly in foursomes, but it just didn’t work out.”
It wasn’t the first time Fleetwood had enjoyed a successful Ryder Cup partnership that gave rise to memorable nickname.
At the 2018 match in Paris, Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari defeated Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed 3&1 in the Friday morning fourball before beating Thomas and Spieth 5&4 in the foursomes that afternoon.
The pair then got the better of Woods and Reed again in the Saturday morning fourball, before Woods came a cropper…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly…