A lot of laughs and enjoyable in Ryder Cup movie star occasion Wednesday at Bethpage

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Eli Manning landed a fade inside 5 toes however missed the putt, Bobby Flay cooked up a birdie, John McEnroe and José Andrés mugged for footage with crimson, white and blue-clad followers and Catherine Zeta-Jones curtseyed on the tee field as the gang serenaded her on the eve of her 56th birthday.

Those had been a number of the scenes Wednesday on the All-Star Celebrity Matches on the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, a light-hearted, laugh-filled 11-hole occasion pitting U.S. and European stars from the stage, display, sports activities and culinary worlds — even Hogwarts.

Teams of two per facet squared off in a modified scramble format on the golf course’s opening and shutting stretches. Winning a gap earned some extent. A tie was value a half-point per facet.

The U.S. gained, 25-19, incomes early bragging rights earlier than the professionals tee it up on Friday.

Manning, the ex-New York Giants quarterback, and “Saturday Night Live” star Colin Jost led the way in which with 7.5 factors. Manning’s former teammate, “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan, teamed with nation singer Miranda Lambert to place up 6 factors, whereas singers Kane Brown and Noah Kahan accounted for six.5 factors for the U.S. facet.

Andrés, the Spanish chef and humanitarian, and Finnish hockey nice Teemu Selanne, had been Europe’s solely successful pair, 6-5, over TV chef Flay and tennis nice McEnroe.

But the scoreboard didn’t appear to matter a lot to followers who lined the ropes for a glimpse of their favourite celebrities, or to the celebrities, who had been taking part in to the gang as a lot as they had been lining up putts and sizing up tee photographs.

“It’s awesome,” mentioned Brown as he signed autographs and posed for footage on the way in which to tee off on the celebrities’ second-to-last gap, the par-3 seventeenth.

After Manning’s birdie miss on 14, a fan shouted: “Peyton would’ve made it!”

A couple of teams later and nonetheless no birdies on the outlet, Andrés turned to the gang and assured one would fall. Andrés left his putt brief, however Flay curled his in from about 15 toes. The “Food Network” star leaped into the air and gestured like he’d simply gained the Masters. Fans roared.

With Strahan simply off the inexperienced, a fan helpfully yelled: “All you got to do is chip it in.” Puffing on a cigar, the professional soccer corridor of famer replied, “That’s what I’m hoping for!” His shot got here shut, dancing to about two toes from the cup.

When Kahan was the one participant in his group to land a shot on the inexperienced, he playfully pointed to himself and the ball, as if telling the gang, “look what I did.”

Actors Tom Felton and Oliver Phelps from the “Harry Potter” movies, taking part in in the identical group for Europe, might’ve used a few of their on-screen magic after they despatched followers ducking with an errant tee shot. It hit a tree and fell harmlessly. Felton’s subsequent putt rattled across the cup however wouldn’t go in.

Brian Murphy, of East Rockaway, New York, didn’t thoughts the duffed photographs or missed putts.

“It’s been refreshing to see people who are so high up on the social ladder just kind of play and shank a ball every now and then,” mentioned Murphy. “It’s like, ‘Oh, my game isn’t that bad.’”