FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The unique cadence of the Ryder Cup often puts participants on their heels.

Instead of four days of play, we have three. Instead of four rounds of golf, we have five. It results in achingly long waits ahead of the tournament’s true start – but once it gets going, things can move in a hurry.

Each of the last five Ryder Cups have been won by the home team, and each of those winning margins proved to be five points or more. That’s due in part to the notion that momentum ripples through a Ryder Cup venue at breakneck speed. Roars are heard ahead, behind and all around. Fractional sample sizes – a few holes, a few shots – are enough to spark instant analysis around player and pairing combinations.

The feel of the matches can turn on a dime in a matter of minutes, as it did on more than one occasion Friday at Bethpage Black: The Americans drew early blood around sunrise, then the Europeans flipped the script decisively. It was a similar story (with a few more momentum swaps) in the afternoon session, but a similar result as Europe carries a 5.5 to 2.5 lead into Saturday.

A big key to Europe’s success, as they won the Friday sessions on foreign soil for the first time since Oakland Hills in 2004, boils down to their two emotional stalwarts in Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.

With seven major championships between them, McIlroy and Rahm have forged the backbone of the squad clad in blue and yellow. It was the case two years ago in Italy, and it proved true again Friday as they contributed 3.5 combined points while playing with four different partners.

”It was massive,” said European Captain Luke Donald. “Rory is probably more vocal in the team room. … He’s made it quite clear that one of his big goals was to win an away Ryder Cup again. And he played fantastic today.”

Rahm led with strength. Out first alongside Tyrrell Hatton, he turned the tide against the American pairing of Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau that U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley had hoped would stoke the home crowds early. That match didn’t see the 16th hole. Then he and Sepp Straka paired in Four-ball to beat the men who combined to win three majors this year, Scottie Scheffler and J.J. Spaun, while losing only a single hole.

“(Jon) has a good track record of going out first. So he likes to lead,” Donald said. “I feel like I feel like he’s someone that wants to do a lot of his talking with his golf clubs, and that’s what he brings to our team and our team room.”

Rahm is now 8-1-3 across his last 12 Ryder Cup matches, a run that dates back to his Singles win over Tiger Woods in France in 2018. He has played in the first Friday match in all four Ryder Cup appearances. Amid uncertainty, he has become Europe’s most reliable constant.

“To have Jon today was great because I did not have my game, and especially for the first little bit. But he kept reminding me that it’s there,” Straka said. “Just keep pushing, and he told me to just put a confident swing on the last hole, and I did.”

McIlroy recently endured a run of five straight losses in the Ryder Cup, a streak he broke with a Singles win over Xander Schauffele at Whistling Straits where he left the course in tears. Since that win, he has gone 6-1-1 in Ryder Cup matches, including a Four-ball tie Friday afternoon in which he narrowly missed out on birdieing each of his last three holes.

In the immediate wake of his afternoon match that had stretched into the evening sun, McIlroy was frustrated by his 15-foot miss on No. 18 that would have given Europe a 6-2 lead. But there’s no denying that the reigning Masters champ found yet another moment to rise to the occasion in a competition where he has missed just two team sessions since his 2010 debut.

“It’s been a great day for Europe,” McIlroy said. “We have come out of the gates really strong like we wanted to. We should be really proud of ourselves.”

The Europeans have won six straight Ryder Cups in which they won the opening day, and they’ll look to make it seven in a row in their effort to win on the road for the first time since 2012. There’s still considerable work to do on that front, as both captains emphasized the fact that 20 of 28 points remain up for grabs.

But there’s no denying that the visitors led with strength, and Donald’s faith in two of his most decorated players was richly rewarded. Any American comeback will need to crack the code on beating one, if not both, of them, a challenge that will begin in the morning in the Foursomes format that has become Europe’s magic elixir over much of the last two decades.

With McIlroy and Rahm both headlining Foursomes pairings Saturday morning, Donald has made one thing clear. There will be emotional ebbs and flows, as there are with any Ryder Cup. But amid a sometimes chaotic storm, the value in having multiple steady hands upon which to rely is off the charts.

“A lot of mental resilience,” Donald said. “I think you just look at some of the putts these guys holed when it mattered, it’s pretty gratifying for a captain.”