"That's disgraceful" Sky's Coltart blasts Zach Johnson over Ryder Cup team prep

Sky Sports Golf's Andrew Coltart has ripped into Zach Johnson's Team USA for being underprepared at this week's Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Rome. 

Coltart, a two-time European Tour winner and member of the losing 1999 European Ryder Cup team, hit out at Johnson's team on Friday as they slumped to an early five-point deficit on the first day's play. 

Luke Donald's Team Europe surged into a 6.5-1.5 lead on Friday afternoon.

They won the morning foursomes 4-0, marking the first time in Ryder Cup history that Europe had swept the first session, and the hosts then won the afternoon fourballs 2.5-1.5. 

USA had several matches in their grasp heading down the closing stretch but they failed to see them out as three tied matches went down on the board.

The first day's play of the 2023 Ryder Cup also marked the first time in history that USA failed to win a single match. 

But it did not surprise Coltart in the slightest due to their lack of preparation. 

Coltart said during the Sky Sports Day One broadcast of the Ryder Cup: 

Those nine players include Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Brian Harman, Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark. 

The three players in the team who had been competing on Tour within those five weeks Coltart mentions are Thomas, Homa and Koepka. 

Thomas and Homa both played at the Fortinet Championship, the first event of the PGA Tour's new Fall Series two weeks ago, while Koepka competed at LIV Golf Chicago last week. 

You could argue that Team USA did head over to Marco Simone a week early to check out the golf course.

Only they were not in competition mode, unlike Donald's Europeans who all teed it up at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth earlier this month before all heading over to Marco Simone just as the Americans did for a couple of days. 

Johnson cited head colds and congestion spreading through the team room as a big reason for USA's lethargic start to the Ryder Cup. 

The bookmakers now have USA as 6/1 outsiders to win the Ryder Cup this week. 

Europe are 1/6 with the tie at 16/1. 

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