Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
What looked certain to be a comfortable Europe win unexpectedly turned into a thrilling Ryder Cup finale on Sunday as they withstood a ferocious challenge from the U.S. 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 to retain the Ryder Cup, but the U.S. made them sweat it out until the bitter end.
It wasn’t until the eighth match of the day that Ireland’s Shane Lowry drained a six-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.
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.
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.
The Americans, who even had U.S. 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 shotmaking and clutch putting through the foursomes and fourball sessions, all while displaying a level of camaraderie and intensity the U.S. 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.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
