Ryder Cup officials forced to make clear rules update midway through opening round

Ryder Cup organisers were compelled to clarify their rules during the opening round of the competition. The Bethpage Black spectacle finally commenced with Rory McIlroy facing a harsh three-word taunt before he'd even struck a shot.

His partner Shane Lowry, meanwhile, made no attempt to conceal his feelings about the American spectators with his response to their chanting. Regarding the actual play, officials distributed a memorandum confirming a "Preferred Lies Update."

The announcement came at 9:30am local time, more than two hours after the initial pairing had teed off, acknowledging that due to rather damp conditions following rainfall during the week, competitors were allowed to take free relief to reposition their ball under specific circumstances.

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The statement read: "When a player's ball lies in a part of the general area cut to fairway height or less (does not include the collar cut), the player may take free relief ONCE by placing the original ball or another ball in and playing it from this relief area.

"In proceeding under this Local Rule, the player must choose a spot to place the ball and use the procedures for replacing a ball under 14.2b(2) and 14.2e.

"The player has only chosen the spot on which to place the ball once the ball has been set down, and the player has let the ball go with the intent for that ball to be in play.

"Penalty for Playing Ball from a Wrong Place in Breach of Local Rule: General Penalty Under Rule 14.7a," reports the Mirror US.

This year's Ryder Cup is not implementing a one-ball rule, a key decision in foursomes where players who often use different equipment are paired together.

Team USA captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup, Zach Johnson, addressed this issue two years ago, saying: "If we are playing together, I'm probably going to tee off with your golf ball more times than not so that we can have more control with your iron play or your wedge play or whatever it may be with your own golf ball.

"That's kind of the unwritten rule. These guys know what they are doing. I don't need to coach them on how to go about doing that."

It comes as Team Europe built a 3-1 advantage during the opening foursomes session on Friday. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton secured a 4&3 win over Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, before Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick claimed another point for Europe with a 5&3 win over Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.

McIlroy and Lowry then advanced Europe's lead to 3-0 with a 5&4 win over Collin Morikawa and Harris English, before USA pulled one back with a 2Up win over Bob MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland.