ROME – Matt Fitzpatrick’s Ryder Cup four-ball debut is going pretty well so far.

Fitzpatrick entered this 44th edition at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club with two previous Ryder Cups under his belt but an 0-5 record and no appearances in the four-ball format. That changed Friday as Fitzpatrick teamed up with Rory McIlroy against Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele in the anchor four-ball match.

After the two sides tied the first hole with pars, Fitzpatrick caught fire, playing his next five holes in six under with an eagle at the 276-yard, par-4 fifth hole after driving the green and rolling in a 12-footer.

PlayIcon

When Schauffele missed a three-footer at the sixth hole, it meant that the Euro pair were a commanding 5 UP.

Fitzpatrick was asked Tuesday about potentially getting to finally play a four-ball match this week. He responded, “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Luke.” He also looked back on a disappointing 2016 Ryder Cup debut, where he didn’t tee it up at all that Friday and lost both his sessions, and how he’s come a long way since then.

“You build it up to be this amazing thing that you wanted to be part of thinking that you'll get a real good go at it, and obviously I never did, really,” Fitzpatrick said. “So that's obviously always something that's sort of disappointing. But at the same time, I look back at that experience, and I was very young, and my game wasn't necessarily ready for that almost, I think. … And I feel like I know much more how to get ready for an event like this now than I did [back then], you know, learning from that.”