USA Regain 41st Ryder Cup as Davis Love III's Side Storm to Victory over Europe in Titanic Battle...
USA 17 Europe 11
- 41st staging of the Ryder Cup was won by USA for first time since 2008
- Henrik Stenson beat Jordan Spieth 3&2 to give Europe the first point
- Patrick Reed quickly restored USA's three-point lead, beating Rory McIlroy
- Thomas Pieters delivered another point for Europe, seeing off J.B. Holmes
- Rafael Cabrera-Bello earns another one for Europe against Jimmy Walker
- But USA's tail end was far stronger resulting in a convincing 17-11 success
Daily Mail UK, 2 October 2016
Rory McIlroy suffered his first singles defeat in the Ryder Cup as the United States won the biennial contest for the first time since 2008 in convincing fashion at Hazeltine.
Europe needed to overturn a three-point deficit in Sunday's 12 singles matches to claim an unprecedented fourth straight win in the biennial contest.
Open champion Henrik Stenson gave Darren Clarke's side the ideal start with a 3&2 win over Jordan Spieth in match two, but McIlroy then lost a highly-charged contest with Patrick Reed on the 18th.
For the first time in eight years the Ryder Cup is wrapped in red, white and blue after the fired-up Americans sparked wild celebrations following a dominant singles performance on Sunday.
Inspired by the incredible Patrick Reed – the man of the tournament and no mistake – and a vibrant, seemingly ageless Phil Mickelson, the Americans completed a 17-11 thumping.
What an afternoon. We had perhaps the most eagerly anticipated singles match in history in Reed against Rory McIlroy that lived up to expectations – and it still wasn’t the game of the day.
Step forward Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. To think Mickelson had ten birdies in a Ryder Cup match for the first time in his long career….and still didn’t win.
Mickelson leapt into the air when the final one went in on the 18th but Garcia followed him in from 10ft. Between them Garcia and Mickelson have played in 19 Ryder Cups and here they shared 19 birdies.
Europe won three of the first five singles but Mickelson halted the blue tide. The Americans dominated the second half of the singles programme and soon it became a question of who would have the honour of clinching the winning point.
Suitably enough, it was delivered by Ryan Moore with a performance that summed up the American super show.
Patrick Reed managed to come out on top in a titanic battle with Rory McIlroy
Two down to Lee Westwood with just three holes to play, the wild card who only knew seven days earlier he would be competing finished eagle, birdie, par to win all three.
The tone of the day had been set a couple of hours earlier with the first match out and one everyone wanted to see. Whenever they come to talk about the 41st edition of this biennial competition they will start with McIlroy from the blue corner and Reed from the red.
Even though the Americans led by three points at the start you felt this match would dictate much of what followed and so it proved.
For eight holes it reached a standard the like of which even this event has never seen, and while it understandably dipped thereafter it was still utterly engrossing.
Naturally it came down to the 18th and naturally the pair hit shots from the top drawer. Pressure? What pressure? After Reed, who was one up, knocked it to 7ft, McIlroy struck one inside him. The match got the ending it deserved as well, as Reed held his nerve to hold his birdie putt for a vital one up success.
After both men exchanged words of mutual respect, US captain Davis Love made a beeline for McIlroy. ‘I told him that with his two tournament wins and his performances here, it was the best month of golf I’ve ever seen,’ said Love. Pure class.
There was better news for Europe in the second match, where Henrik Stenson showed the pedigree of an Open Champion to beat Reed’s partner, Jordan Spieth.
The Swede is now 40 years old and supposedly has a dodgy knee but belied it all to play his fifth match of the week and win three and two. He was seven under par at the finish.
In the third match came Europe’s find of the week – the game’s next superstar, Thomas Pieters.
He claimed his fourth point out of five and underlined all his vast potential by beating JB Holmes three and two. Another point was delivered by the other find, Rafa Cabrera-Bello.
But a plainly tired Justin Rose lost a close one to Rickie Fowler before Mickelson halted Europe’s momentum.
What a reception greeted Reed and McIlroy on to the first tee. If ever they want to get people to play golf they need only show them a stretch of four holes from the fifth where the two men, would you believe, shared seven birdies and an eagle.
The fireworks began with a McIlroy birdie at the driveable par four fifth but still he lost the hole, as Reed poured in an eagle putt from 12ft. After matching McIlroy’s birdie at the sixth, Reed greeted the roar by bowing to the crowd in imitation of his opponent’s similar mischievous gesture on Friday.
Brandt Snedeker celebrates putting USA on the cusp of victory after clinching his point
Naturally, McIlroy wasn’t going to let that pass without a response. At the 7th it was his turn to match Reed’s birdie and now he put his finger to his lips, as the American had done at Gleneagles in 2014.
As banter goes it wasn’t MENSA standard but it was harmless and led to an 8th hole that will take its place in golf history as among the sport’s finest moments.
Both players were miles from the hole after their tee shots but that mattered not a jot. First Rory holed from fully 70ft and embarked on his most manic demonstration yet in a weekend full of them. And still he couldn’t retake the lead, as Reed matched his birdie once more from fully 25ft away to be five under par for the four hole stretch.
Reed went nuts, the crowd went mad, and then a lovely moment at the end of this unforgettable hour as the two players put their arms around one another as they left the green.
It was a nice moment that summed up the early play as everyone took a step back following the occasional bouts of idiocy on show from spectators during the Saturday afternoon fourballs.
A plea for calm on the first tee brought loud cheers from the crowds. ‘Welcome Euros,’ they sang, before getting behind the home side.
Gathered there enjoying the wonderful scene were arguably America’s two greatest sportsmen over the past 20 years – Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
First up was McIlroy and Reed. Inevitably after that breathless first eight holes where they had slugged each other to a standstill, a more human standard broke out. After all the golf they had played and energy expended, a touch of mental fatigue set in. Reed went in front for the first time at the 12th and increased it at the 16th before McIlroy cut into the deficit at the 17th. it was the American, however, who had the last word.
It was to become the story of this 41st Ryder Cup. All week the prevailing chant among the largely fabulous crowd had been ‘I believe that we can win,’ and now it has come to pass..
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HOW THE FINAL DAY OF THE RYDER CUP UNFOLDED
The United States and Europe battled to win the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine on Sunday. Here is how the 12 singles matches unfolded:
Henrik Stenson beat Jordan Spieth 3&2
Stenson had lost three of his four matches coming into the singles but recovered from an early deficit with the aid of four birdies in the space of six holes from the sixth. Spieth found water off the tee on the 13th and also with his approach to the par-five 16th, the two-time major winner trying to play it from the edge of the hazard but picking up a penalty after causing his ball to move. With Stenson on the green in two, Spieth conceded.
Europe 7 1/2 USA 9 1/2
Patrick Reed beat Rory McIlroy 1 hole
The eagerly-anticipated clash got off to a sensational start as the pair combined for eight birdies and an eagle in the first eight holes, with each success marked by exuberant - but good-natured - celebrations from both men. McIlroy fell behind for the first time after failing to get up and down from a bunker on the 12th and looked to have run out of steam following a highly-charged week. Reed doubled his lead with a birdie on the 16th and although he made a mess of the next, a birdie on the 18th was a fitting way to seal the win, especially with McIlroy having a shorter birdie putt of his own.
Europe 7 1/2 USA 10 1/2
Thomas Pieters beat JB Holmes 3&2
Europe's rookie sensation Pieters made it four wins from five matches after recovering from losing the first two holes, the wild card hitting back with birdies at the third and fourth before driving out of bounds on the fifth. That proved a temporary setback as the 24-year-old birdied the seventh and carded four more on the back nine on his way to a convincing 3&2 win.
Europe 8 1/2 USA 10 1/2
Rafa Cabrera Bello beat Jimmy Walker 3&2
Cabrera Bello birdied the third and fifth to go two ahead and played consistently well, as he had done all week, to never concede the lead. It briefly fluctuated from three up to one up but the Spaniard remained in control and closed things out on the 16th when Walker could make only double-bogey.
Europe 9 1/2 USA 10 1/2
Rickie Fowler beat Justin Rose 1 hole
Opting to play match four after beating Phil Mickelson from that position in the 'Miracle of Medinah' in 2012, Rose made the ideal start with a birdie to win the first, but could never shake off Fowler and crucially missed from two feet to win the 12th. Fowler took the lead in the match for the first time with a birdie on the 16th and Rose was unable to birdie the last to force a half.
Europe 9 1/2 USA 11 1/2
Brooks Koepka beat Danny Willett 5&4
It was a difficult Ryder Cup debut for Masters champion Willett - largely for reasons outside of his control - and his week ended on a low note with a heavy singles loss. Willett actually started well, with a birdie on the second giving him an early lead but things started to go against him before the turn. He lost six out of eight holes and was forced to accept defeat on the 14th.
Europe 9 1/2 USA 12 1/2
Sergio Garcia halved with Phil Mickelson
Possibly the match of the day. Garcia went one up at the first after knocking it stiff, Mickelson responded with birdies at the par-five third and short next to set the tone for a remarkable encounter. Mickelson finished with 10 birdies, Garcia nine and bogey free and the pair both holed birdie putts on the last for a half.
Europe 10 USA 13
Brandt Snedeker beat Andy Sullivan 3&1
Sullivan hit it in close at the first to go one up and spun one back to a couple of feet at the third for another birdie but Snedeker's kick-in birdie at the short fourth cut the lead to one. Four birdies from the fourth put Snedeker ahead by two holes and rookie Sullivan could not turn things around, eventually losing on the 17th.
Europe 10 USA 14
Ryan Moore beat Lee Westwood 1up
An out-of-form Westwood won the first hole with a par but was behind after Moore's birdies at the third and fifth. However, the Worksop golfer fought back to go two up at the 15th only for his opponent to finish eagle-birdie-par to win and regain the Ryder Cup.
Europe 10 USA 15
Zach Johnson beat Matt Fitzpatrick 4&3
Rookie Fitzpatrick pulled his match back level after falling two behind after four holes but then lost momentum with a bogey on the ninth. Johnson, the 2015 Open champion, then turned up the heat on the back nine. Johnson went four up when Fitzpatrick failed to match his birdie on the 15th, securing the point and prompting 'chicken dance' celebrations.
Europe 10 USA 16
Dustin Johnson beat Chris Wood 1 hole
Wood made an impressive start with four birdies in his first five holes but never led by more than one and Johnson took the initiative with a birdie at the par-three eighth. The American extended his lead at the 10th and, although rookie Wood rallied on the back nine, Johnson was not to be denied. He missed a putt on the 16th which would have guaranteed the trophy, but it only delayed the inevitable.
Europe 10 USA 17
Martin Kaymer beat Matt Kuchar 1 hole
Kaymer showed some of the resilience that was missing from his game earlier in the week as he recovered from falling three behind after seven holes. The German won three in succession on the back nine to take a lead he did not relinquish but it mattered little in the bigger picture. As they played the closing holes the destination of the trophy was already known, with Americans celebrating victory.
Europe 11 USA 17
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USA Win 41st Ryder Cup > 1st Time Since 2008
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