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6 days ago
15
Two points. Two miserly points, from 11 matches. So easy to say, much harder to actually accomplish. Anybody in any doubt about that can only ask Luke Donald.
A Ryder Cup belatedly broke out under the blaring sun at Bethpage Black on Sunday . The competitive spirit summoned by the United States of America ultimately was not enough to rip the 17 inch trophy back from Europe’s grasp but wow did they give Donald and his players a fright. A singles session that started with the visitors eyeing a procession and record breaking was dominated by Keegan Bradley’s US team. Donald surely feared one of the worst sporting capitulations of our time. How would they recover? How would Europe’s golfers ever recover?
They have been spared that nightmare. It was not Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose or Tommy Fleetwood who carried Europe over the line at Bethpage. Instead, Donald and his players collapsed in an exhausted heap as Shane Lowry holed out for 6ft on the final green of match eight to take them to 14 points and retain the Cup. Two matches later, Tyrrell Hatton halved with Collin Morikawa to secure Europe’s first away win since the Miracle of Medinah in 2012. The final score was USA 13 Europe 15.
For Lowry, who was understandably soon in floods of tears, this was as epic a moment as when he won the 2019 Open Championship. A golfing continent exhaled as Lowry danced across the putting surface with unbridled joy.
How precarious this situation was can be explained by the fact that when Lowry took to the 18th tee, Europe held no lead in the four games remaining on the course. The Irishman was one down. Russell Henley hit a glorious bunker shot to set up a chance of sealing his point. Henley, quite incredibly, left his putt short. Cometh the hour, cometh the Offaly man.
This was, eventually, a triumph for Donald’s diligence and planning. It should also, though, serve as a reference point for spectator behaviour. Too much of what transpired in New York, largely towards the visiting team, should never be seen at a Ryder Cup again. Golf should be proud of its failure to embrace a yobbish culture. It should recoil at the abuse dished out to Europe as they rampaged towards victory. Adare Manor in 2027 has to and surely will be totally different. McIlroy’s defeat to Scottie Scheffler was due in no small part to the mental exhaustion suffered by the Masters champion. The treatment of McIlroy over three days here was disgraceful.
There was an on course ruckus to add to the mix. Bradley became irritated by the drop given Rose – or the time taken to decide upon it – on the 13th, the Englishman’s second shot to the par five having found a road. After a delay of about 15 minutes, with Bradley still chuntering in the ear of a referee, Rose played from scrubland at the back of a spectator stand; quite wonderfully, as it transpired. Rose’s shot finished within 6ft of the hole, from where he converted to pull one back against Young. As Rose won the 14th as well, Cameron Young’s lead was suddenly under threat. Bradley continued to mump and moan. Young lightened his captain’s mood with an 11ft putt on the final green to snatch a point from game one.
Justin Thomas backed up Young by seeing off Fleetwood, again on the last. “Keegan has obviously gotten a lot of ridicule and a lot of things throughout the week just because we haven’t played well enough,” Thomas said. “But I’m glad to see us just play a little bit better today and finally give these fans something to cheer for and something to cheer against.”
Bryson DeChambeau had been five down after seven to Matt Fitzpatrick but rescued half a point. “I love my country,” said DeChambeau, in typically understated fashion. Scheffler’s game with McIlroy also went the distance, the world No 1 signing off from what was overall a disappointing tournament on a high. “This has been a really special team and it’s been a lot of fun,” Scheffler said. He is, however, clearly far more at home in individual battle. Light relief for Donald was supplied by Ludvig Åberg, who beat Patrick Cantlay 2&1. Half a point needed. Half a point!
Red was added to the leaderboard by Xander Schauffele, who defeated Jon Rahm, and JJ Spaun’s success over Sepp Straka. Europe were now firmly in squeaky bum territory. Rasmus Højgaard was struggling against Ben Griffin in the battle of the Ryder Cup rookies and Tyrrell Hatton was locked in a tense battle against Collin Morikawa. Could match 11 of 11, where Robert MacIntyre was taking on Sam Burns, really be the one? Lowry ended that notion.
Europe’s Sunday task had even been simplified further by the removal of Viktor Hovland from the singles draw because of a neck injury. In what was a rare example of the Ryder Cup’s envelope rule, the US player pre-determined by Bradley to sit out in a scenario such as this was revealed as Harris English. Both teams took half a point. Hovland said it was “heartbreaking” to miss out, with Donald reporting the 28-year-old as being “devastated.”
In keeping with the tone of this competition, US fans heckled Hovland as he watched his teammates from the fairways. And, one assumes, between his fingernails.
