Ryder Cup: Back a team to score at least five first-day points
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Is this really the best USA Ryder Cup team ever assembled? Is it impossible to win the tournament on the road with six rookies? Will assistant captain Tiger Woods make everything about him? These questions, and more, are all about to be answered at Hazeltine.
After months of preparation Darren Clarke and Davis Love III will enter their pairings for the first morning of competition hoping they will wrestle the early momentum in the three-day pursuit of glory.
For punters, it’s equally important to find an early groove and focusing on the opening-day point tallies is a quick way to find form.
In four of the past five Ryder Cups the leading team at the end of day one has collected either 5 or 5½ points.
On the one occasion that the tally wasn’t reached weather was the reason, with the first session of four-balls and foursomes spilling into day two due to inclement conditions.
We go 7/4 that the hosts score five or more points on Friday this year, while Clarke’s visitors are 11/4 to achieve the same feat.
The first day’s scoreboard has read 5-3 at the end of day one in each of the previous two editions. It’s 11/2 that the USA are leading by that same score in 2016 and 13/2 that Europe hold a 5-3 advantage.
Love III’s men are favoured to take the opening-day spoils at 10/11, with 9/2 available on a 4-4 tie and 11/8 that Europe have their noses in front over the first.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
