Rose, Stenson continue winning ways with defeat of Johnson, Mahan

If Ian Poulter has lost some of his luster as Europe's preeminent Ryder Cup sharpshooter, Justin Rose is more than ready to step up and replace him.

Rose and playing partner Henrik Stenson went 2-0 on the first day of the Ryder Cup, pairing a morning thrashing of Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson with an afternoon edge over Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson.

The wins move Rose to 8-3-0 all time at the Ryder Cup, one of the more impressive records on the entire European squad. He and Stenson will almost surely be partners now for the foreseeable future, given the ease with which they dispatched both American squads. They never once trailed during the entire day, and in the afternoon foursomes match, were all square only four of 14 holes.

The Americans didn't help their own cause, three-putting the 17th hole to end the match rather than forcing a chance at a halve. But on this day, Rose had no equal, and he'll be a critical player for Europe over the weekend.

____

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Facebook or on Twitter.

Follow @jaybusbee

from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1ryoiQz