Amid a raucous soccer-style atmosphere, the 40th Ryder Cup got off to a wild start Friday as a nervous Webb Simpson badly mishit the opening tee shot for the underdog Americans at Gleneagles.
The veteran course announcer even slipped up, mistakenly introducing Simpson as Bubba Watson, his partner.
Seconds later, Simpson got under the ball and hit a three-wood high into the air. The shot traveled about 190 yards, barely reaching the fairway.
Then Watson tried to rile up the crowd, cupping his hand to his ear and waving to encourage more noise from the heavily outnumbered U.S. fans. With cheers ringing out, he hit his drive into the left rough.
The European pair of Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson hit the fairway with their drives.
Watson and Rose both made par to halve the opening hole of the three-day competition on the PGA Centenary Course.
There were boisterous scenes at the first tee, amid singing and chanting from the crowd, including "10-6 — and you still can't win." That was a reference to the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah, where the U.S. blew a final day lead and Europe pulled off a remarkable comeback.
Europe has won seven of the last nine times, and it has not lost on home soil since 1993 when Tom Watson was the American captain. The 65-year-old Watson is back this year as the oldest captain in Ryder Cup history.
The entrance to the first tee was full of drama.
Players walked through a tunnel painted American red on side and European blue on the other. They emerged to huge cheers from flag-waving fans in the U-shaped grandstand, with the sun peeking out from behind the hills on a glorious morning of blue skies.
Watson and European captain Paul McGinley both received standing ovations.
Watson has been preaching redemption after the Americans' meltdown at Medinah, where they lost the largest lead ever by a home team. McGinley is talking about a template of success, even though he put together four pairings who have never played together in a Ryder Cup.
The second match had Europe's Martin Kaymer and 43-year-old Thomas Bjorn against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.
Watson created the youngest pairing in Ryder Cup history with 21-year-old Jordan Spieth and 24-year-old Patrick Reed — both rookies — going against Europe stalwart Ian Poulter and Stephen Gallacher in the third match. Gallacher is another rookie and the lone Scot on the team.
Poulter, who has won seven straight Ryder Cup matches, missed a 2-foot putt at the first to lose the hole
No. 1 Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia were paired against Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the fourth match.
Mickelson took a playful dig at McIlroy on Wednesday when he said the best part of American unity is the players don't "litigate against each other." McIlroy has a court battle against his former management company, and the lawsuit involves Graeme McDowell.
McGinley left out two of his rookies: Victor Dubuisson of France and Jamie Donaldson of Wales. Also sitting out are Lee Westwood, who has been in every Ryder Cup since 1997, and Graeme McDowell.
Absent from the opening pairs for the Americans were Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson.
The U.S. has not trailed after the opening session since 2006.