What looked certain to be a comfortable Team Europe win unexpectedly turned into a thrilling Ryder Cup finale as they withstood a ferocious challenge from Team United States to capture golf’s biggest team prize in a nail-biting 15-13 victory.
Europe, a close-knit team that had done everything right for two days at Long Island’s Bethpage Black, needed two points from the 11 singles matches that were played on Sunday to retain the Ryder Cup, but the Americans made them sweat it out until the bitter end.
“It’s got to be the most stressful 12 hours of my life,” said Europe’s Luke Donald, the first captain to win back-to-back editions of the biennial event since Tony Jacklin in the 1980s. “We knew they’d be tough; we didn’t think they’d be this tough.”
It was not until the eighth match of the day that Ireland’s Shane Lowry drained a 6-foot birdie at the last to tie Russell Henley, getting Europe to 14 points on the week and guaranteeing they would retain the Ryder Cup they won two years ago in Rome.
“I said to my caddie walking down 18, ‘I’ve got an opportunity to do the greatest thing I’ve ever done today,’ and I did it. And I’m very proud of myself,” said Lowry.
Then it was Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, in the penultimate match, who secured the outright victory with a half-point from his battle with Collin Morikawa that put Europe at the 14-1/2 points needed to win the Ryder Cup.
“It’s been one of the hardest days I’ve ever experienced on a golf course,” Hatton said after the closest Ryder Cup since the “Miracle at Medinah” in 2012, when Europe staged a remarkable final-day comeback.
“It was to be expected, they’re amazing players – selfishly, I was hoping it wouldn’t have to come down to me.”
Europe have now won 11 of the last 15 Ryder Cups dating back to 1995, and their latest triumph marks the fifth time they have won on foreign soil.
Hostile conditions for visitors
The Americans, who even had US President Donald Trump on hand to offer support on Friday, failed to put up a fight over the first two days of the event while rowdy home fans launched all manner of verbal abuse at the Europeans.
Despite the hostile conditions, Europe produced remarkable shot-making and clutch putting through the foursomes and fourball sessions, all while displaying a level of camaraderie and intensity the US side could only dream of.
There was little reason to think Europe were not headed for a quick victory on Sunday, and Donald’s team even made a fast start to the singles session until things suddenly turned.
“The boys really fought today. That was incredible. I didn’t expect anything different,” said US captain Keegan Bradley.
“They showed the world today that, really, anything is possible. That was a coin flip there for a second. Never more proud of anything in my life.”
‘A day too late’
Bradley sent Cameron Young and Justin Thomas out in the first two matches, and both birdied the final hole to secure 1-up victories over Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, respectively, to breathe some life into the Americans’ chances.
“That’s the momentum we’ve been looking for the whole week. We just made it a day too late,” said Thomas.
Xander Schauffele added another US point with a 4&3 win over Spaniard Jon Rahm before Swede Ludvig Aberg finally put some blue on the board with a 2&1 win over Patrick Cantlay that marked the only singles match won by Europe all day.
Moments later, Matt Fitzpatrick, who was 5-up after seven holes, settled for a half-point when he halved his match with Bryson DeChambeau, putting Europe half a point from retaining the cup with six matches still on the course.
But Europe were made to wait as Scottie Scheffler took the next point with a 1-up win over Rory McIlroy in the first-ever Ryder Cup singles match between the top two players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
JJ Spaun then closed out a 2&1 win over Austrian Sepp Straka to set the stage for Lowry, who birdied from 6 feet at the last to earn the half-point against Russell Henley.
Shortly after, it was Hatton who settled for a par on the closing hole to halve the match and kick off the celebrations. The final match on the schedule was ruled a tie before the day’s matches began, which resulted in a half-point for each team, as Europe’s Viktor Hovland withdrew before the clash with Harris English due to injury.
For McIlroy, who was the target of much of the verbal abuse all week, Europe’s win made good on the bold prediction after the last Ryder Cup that they would win on the road this year.
“It’s nice to be right. I’m not right all the time,” said McIlroy. “I have absolute confidence in this team.
“I think we won in Rome, and the wheels were set in motion to try to do something that had not been done in over a decade.”
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