Team Europe golfers Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy celebrate on the seventeenth green during Day 1 one foursomes. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Ryder Cup Day 2 best bets: Ride the European wave

By Jack Dougherty | Last updated 9/29/23

Day 1 of the 2023 Ryder Cup has officially concluded, and Team Europe already has one hand on the Cup through two sessions. Team USA failed to win a match on a single day for the first time in Ryder Cup history and finds itself in a 6 1/2 to 1 1/2 hole.

After what we saw on Day 1, I'm buying a first-class ticket on the Team Europe bandwagon and riding the home team with my two best bets for Day 2.

Tommy Fleetwood/Rory McIlroy > Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth (-120 FanDuel)

I, for one, am stunned U.S. captain Zach Johnson is choosing to trot out Jordan Spieth in the Saturday morning foursomes session. Spieth and Justin Thomas earned a half-point in their Friday four-ball match against Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton, but that's only because Thomas hung on by himself down the stretch.

Spieth's ball striking was abysmal throughout the match. He lost 3.89 strokes on approach and 2.76 strokes off the tee (Data Golf), which were both the worst marks of the session among the 16 players in action. You can get away with shoddy ball striking in four-ball, but that's not the case in foursomes.

If Spieth is going to miss most of his fairways and greens, this duo isn't going to score well in alternate shot. Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy won their foursomes match on Friday morning against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, and this is an even easier matchup.

Team Europe Day 2 foursomes winner (+135 FD)

I'm not fully confident in predicting a winner in the other three matches, so we're just going to ride the hot hand to keep it rolling.

Team Europe went 4-0-0 in Friday's foursomes session, and captain Luke Donald is wisely sticking with the same four duos on Day 2. The Europeans have also dominated the foursomes format for 30 years, as they've outscored the Americans, 66 1/2-49 1/2 since 1993.

And now there are rumblings about a stomach bug going around the U.S. locker room? The vibes couldn't be lower for Team USA right now, just as they couldn't be higher for Team Europe. I fully expect the home team to step on the visitors' throats on Saturday morning, and I can get plus-money odds on them to do so.

More must-reads: