CHASKA, Minn. — The first Ryder Cup singles match on Sunday was not the best singles match on Sunday.
That honor belonged to the duel between the old rivals Phil Mickelson and Sergio García, who generated 19 birdies between them without generating a winner.
But the first singles match — between Patrick Reed and Rory McIlory — was no doubt the most important match played at Hazeltine National Golf Club.
McIlroy, Europe’s main man, needed to win it in order to lay the brickwork for another improbable comeback on American soil. Reed, now the United States’ main man in the Ryder Cup, needed to win it in order to send a clear and unmistakable message that this time would be different for a team that has been a star-spangled punching bag for most of the last 20 years.