Ryder Cup 2016: Leaderboard, live coverage, results and more from Saturday’s matches

Golf fans get four major championships every year. But only once every two years do they get an opportunity to enjoy the stars of the game in the world’s premier team competition.

The Ryder Cup is here.

Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Jack Nicklaus may have strolled Hazeltine at the Ryder Cup on Saturday, but there was really no question who the alpha male was across the sloping Minnesota property. Rory McIlroy, in a way those sports icons often did, embraced the role of villainy, creating enemies, goading them, asking for an adversary, either imagined or real. Then he’d crush their hopes and dreams and dance on ‘em.

This day was max Rory, turned all the way up to 100 and in a way we’ve never seen from him. We know he runs hot, but the Ryder Cup is that rare opportunity to play as either a home or away team and he owned the adversarial moment. It has been a frustrating season at times for Rory. He was the lead dog in the game, then Jordan Spieth and Jason Day intervened last year. This year was supposed to be a re-ascendance to the throne, but the form that delivered back-to-back majors in 2014 just did not show up when he needed it most. There were aspects of his game that remained dominant, specifically his immense power off the tee. But either his putting or wedge game would go on him. He’d miss major cuts, break clubs, bristle in press conferences, and storm away looking as exasperated as ever. He was too good to be missing these opportunities.

Sergio Garcia channeled Phil Mickelson during his Saturday morning foursome match at Hazeltine when he hooked his tee shot on the par-4 fifth way left of center into the gallery — and into a marshal’s pocket.

After conferring with an official, Garcia got a free drop and his alternate-shot partner Rafa Cabrera Bello stuck the ball some 10 feet from the pin.

After a long two-session, 12-hour day that saw the momentum swing from the USA back to the Europeans, the Ryder Cup stands at 5-3 USA. Here’s what we liked from both sides so far.