CHASKA, Minn. -- There will be all sorts of scorching-hot takes and convoluted narratives after the first day of the Ryder Cup. Things such as: The Americans are soft for losing momentum in the afternoon matches! Or: The Europeans are being too sensitive about the hostile crowd! Second-guessing. Friday-evening quarterbacking. Tons of hindsight. You get the idea.
Among all of this rhetoric, something might get lost -- something that was the overarching theme of the entire day.
That was an absolute freakin' blast.
This was a brilliant day of golf -- from the first shot of the day, a drive from Justin Rose that silenced the raucous crowd, to the last shot of the day, an eagle putt from Rory McIlroy punctuated by screams and fist pumps and a few bows toward the gallery.
If the Ryder Cup is guilty of being overhyped for the two years leading into each edition of the event, then Friday somehow lived up to that hype, and surpassed it.
So what if the U.S. team looked too dominant in sweeping the morning foursomes session? So what if Europe pulverized the Americans in three of the four afternoon four-ball matches? So what if only one match actually reached the 17th hole, let alone the 18th?
It was everything you could want in a Ryder Cup day. It was competitive and contentious. There were wild momentum swings. There was emotion over the recent passing of Arnold Palmer and tension over the partisan pandering of the home crowd.
Maybe it wasn't collectively the best display of golf we've seen all year -- Open Championship, anyone? -- but there might not have been another day that was as much fun.
"Obviously, there's a lot of energy going around," said Sergio Garcia, playing in his eighth Ryder Cup for Team Europe this week. "Sometimes it's a little bit on the edge, but it was great fun."
The energy, and that edge, was largely provided by the heavily biased galleries. Running the gamut from passionate to over-the-top, fans yelled and screamed throughout the day, and not just inappropriate things at inappropriate times, either.
It's the reason why Jordan Spieth continually shushed his own supporters when they cheered his opponents' foibles. And why McIlroy, when he made that match-clinching eagle putt to conclude the day, insisted on a celebration that would've gotten him 15 yards and a fine in an NFL end zone.
"Look, it's a hostile environment out there, and I just want everyone that's watching out there to know how much this means to us, how much it means to me personally and obviously us as a team," McIlroy said. "I bowed to them, said, 'You're welcome for the show.'"
Even U.S. captain Davis Love III, he of the 4-0 early advantage and 5-3 end-of-day lead, could set aside his thoughts on the overall result of the two sessions and realize the drama it provided.
"[Europe] had some fun this afternoon; we had some fun this morning, and we have two more fun days coming up," he said. "I'm sure we'll see some more of that."
Ah, yes. The best part of this is that there is more to come.
If you thought Friday was a rollicking good time, just wait until the weekend, when things really get heated up here at Hazeltine.
This absolute freakin' blast is only going to get better.