Europe have won the 45th Ryder Cup in New York by 15 points to 13, but it could – and perhaps should – have been a much more comfortable victory. Luke Donald’s European side dominated proceedings at Bethpage Black on Long Island and took a healthy lead into the final day. But the US team, captained by Keegan Bradley, mounted a spirited fight to leave European fans biting their fingernails.
In the end, though, the Europeans just about held their nerve to limp over the line and win on US soil for the first time since the “Miracle at Medinah” in 2012. In a raucous atmosphere that occasionally became abusive, the Europeans had to battle the crowds as well as the tricky greens. So let’s take a look back at how Donald’s men earned their victory.
Photo credit: Marco Iacobucci Epp / Shutterstock.com.
Europe Set the Pace on Feisty Friday
| Match Type | Europe | USA |
|---|---|---|
| Foursomes | 3 | 1 |
| Fourballs | 2½ | 1½ |
| Friday Totals | 5½ | 2½ |
The European team were quick out of the blocks with the first session of golf on Friday, 26th September, in the morning foursomes. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were paired up to face Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, and the Europeans made short work of their opponents, winning 4 & 3. Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick were even more dominant against world number one Scottie Scheffler and his partner Russell Henley, with Donald’s men posting an emphatic 5 & 3 victory.
When Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood hammered Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5 & 4, talk began of a first-session whitewash. But Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay saved the USA team’s blushes by edging a win against Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland, leaving the score after the first session 3-1 to Europe.
It was largely more of the same in the afternoon four-ball session, with Rahm and Sepp Straka beating Scheffler and J.J. Spaun 3 & 2, and Fleetwood and Justin Rose just edging a win against Ben Griffin and DeChambeau. But Cameron Young and Justin Thomas hit back for the USA with their best win yet: 6 & 5 against Åberg and Rasmus Højgaard. In a tense and sometimes testy final four-ball, McIlroy and Shane Lowry ended up all-square with Sam Burns and Cantlay, giving Europe a handsome overnight lead of 5½ to 2½.
Super Saturday for Dominant Europe
| Match Type | Europe | USA |
|---|---|---|
| Foursomes | 3 | 1 |
| Fourballs | 3 | 1 |
| Saturday Totals | 6 | 2 |
Things could barely have gone better for Donald’s troops on Saturday, and despite constant barracking from the sometimes disrespectful crowd, Europe did most of their talking on the course. Despite DeChambeau and Young getting an early point on the board for the USA, Europe won all three of the following foursomes, with McIlroy and Fleetwood beating English and Morikawa 3 & 2, and Rahm and Hatton posting the same margin against Schauffele and Cantlay. The final match of the morning also went Europe’s way, though only just, as MacIntyre and Hovland got the better of Henley and Scheffler.
With Europe five points clear of the USA going into the afternoon four-balls, Donald’s men turned the screw and matched their morning dominance. McIlroy teamed up with Lowry to keep the momentum going by beating Thomas and Young, before Fleetwood and Rose added to US woes with a 3 & 2 triumph over the increasingly frustrated Scheffler and his partner DeChambeau.
Spaun and Schauffele hit back for the home side with a narrow win against Rahm and Straka, but Hatton and Fitzpatrick ensured Europe finished the day on a high with victory over Burns and Cantlay. That meant Europe went into the Sunday singles with 11½ points to the USA’s 4½, with the visitors requiring just three points from 12 singles games to win the Ryder Cup. Surely it should all be done and dusted after a few games… or perhaps not.
USA’s Unlikely Comeback… Almost
| Match Type | Europe | USA |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday Singles | 8½ | 3½ |
At times during the Friday and Saturday, the USA players had been seriously underwhelming. But they certainly came out fighting on the Sunday. With nothing to lose and the fear of a complete hammering appearing to spur them on, Bradley’s side made a decent contest of what could have turned into a procession for the European side.
Before a ball had been struck, there was a ½-point boost to both sides as Viktor Hovland had to withdraw through injury, which meant his match against Harris English would be halved. This played into the hands of Europe, who were then 12-5 up and required just two points to retain the Ryder Cup (as holders) and 2½ to win it outright. But that proved far from easy as the USA took the opening two matches, Young beating Rose and Thomas getting the better of Fleetwood (this stopping the Englishman winning five from five).
Matt Fitzpatrick got half a point on the board for Europe as he halved the match against DeChambeau, but with the US team ahead in many of the remaining games, things were getting tense for Luke Donald as they sought just two more points for victory. McIlroy couldn’t get even a half against Scheffler, who finally showed up to beat the Northern Irishman. But Ludvig Åberg made a crucial contribution to Europe’s cause as he beat Patrick Cantlay 2 & 1, meaning Europe required just half a point to retain the Cup and a full point to win with six matches out on the course.
The USA weren’t done, though, and took the next two singles. But then Lowry made a fine putt on the 18th to halve his match against Henley and bring it home for Europe. Despite Griffin winning the next against Rasmus Højgaard (the only European who failed to score), Hatton and MacIntyre halved their games against Morikawa and Burns, so it finished a respectable, if not emphatic, 15-13 to Europe.