"We’ll be back to business" - Luke Donald remains focused on Team Europe's success following impressive Ryder Cup opening day performance 

After the start of the Ryder Cup 2023, Europe captain Luke Donald has made it clear that they are not done yet, as the job is still to be finished.

On Friday, September 29, the European squad put on an incredible performance to take a five-point lead after eight matches on the first day. First, the hosts swept the foursome session and then earned 2.5 points in the four-ball session with three ties and a win. The US remained winless after the opening day.

Speaking at the post-session interview on Friday, Luke Donald said it was a historic day after an unbelievable start, but they were waiting for a historic week.

He said:

"So, the job is certainly not done. We will all celebrate an amazing day, but we'll be back tomorrow morning with the goal of trying to win tomorrow morning's session. We'll be getting our guys focused to be back in the saddle."

He added that they won't get complacent with the flying start at the Ryder Cup.

"We'll enjoy the last hour and the celebration," he added. "But once I'm back at the hotel, we'll have a team meeting, and we'll be back to business."

While the foursomes in the Ryder Cup opening session were one-sided, the four-ball matches were closely fought, with victory eluding the visitors on Friday. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth gave a tough fight to Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton, leading for most of the match.

It was Hovland's birdie from 20 feet away from the hole that ultimately resulted in a halved point. Jon Rahm also recovered in the last three holes with an Eagle-par-Eagle to tie with Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.

Donald spoke about the four-ball round in the press conference. He said:

"They were turning around matches. Again, we got off to a pretty good start, but they fought back. And we knew they would. They are a strong team. There's a lot of talent on that team."

"But what we did going down 18 just shows the determination, the grit, the perseverance, kind of the unity of our team. They never gave up, and they kept pushing till the very end."

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What happened on the opening day of the Ryder Cup 2023? Friday's results explored

Rory McIlroy won both of his matches in the Ryder Cup 2023, Day 1

Here are the complete results for the Ryder Cup 2023, Day 1:

Morning Foursome Session:

Match 1

• Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns lost to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, 4 and 3.

Match 2

• Max Homa & Brian Harman lost to Viktor Hovland & Ludvig Åberg, 4&3

Match 3

• Rickie Fowler & Collin Morikawa lost to Sepp Straka & Shane Lowry, 2&1

Match 4

• Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele lost to Rory McIlroy & Tommy Fleetwood, 2&1

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Afternoon Four-ball Session

Match 1

• Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth tied with Tyrrell Hatton and Viktor Hovland

Match 2

• Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler tied with Jon Rahm and Nicolai Højgaard

Match 3

• Max Homa and Wyndham Clark tied with Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre

Match 4

• Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa lost to Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, 5 and 3.