Birdie putts didn’t fall as easily for Utah’s Tony Finau on Saturday at the 43rd Ryder Cup as they did on Friday.
As a result, Finau and partner Harris English fell 1 up to Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton in a foursomes match Saturday afternoon. Finau was not selected by captain Steve Stricker to play in the morning round after making six birdies Friday in a with English over Rory McIlroy and Lowry.
Finau’s team never led in its match Saturday.
Lowry made a birdie on the par-3 No. 3 hole and Hatton made a birdie on the par-4 11th hole to put the Europeans 2 up. Lowry made five birdies in a 10-hole stretch.
Finau made his first birdie of the day on No. 13 to trim the deficit to one hole. On No. 14, after English’s tap-in birdie was conceded, Hatton rolled in a 30 footer for birdie to halve the hole and keep the Americans from making the match even.
On No. 17, Finau’s 25-footer for birdie to tie the match was a couple rotations short.
The United States has a commanding 11-5 lead over Europe heading into Sunday’s singles matches at Whistling Straits Golf Club in Wisconsin.