Farmingdale, N.Y. — Masters champion Rory McIlroy stood on the bridge in Bethpage Black on Sunday, raising his arms, “I, me, me!”, and the European flag was covered in his shoulders.
After bearing the brunt of abuse from New York fans at the 45th Ryder Cup, McIlroy was finally able to sigh Ah Relief that the week was over. And because the Europeans survived a ferocious gathering of Americans in singles on Sunday, winning golf’s biggest prize again in a 15-13 victory.
The tie with Russell Henry of Ireland’s Shane Raleigh in the eighth match gave the Europeans 14 points and guaranteed they would hold the Ryder Cup after winning Italy two years ago.
Raleigh made a 6-foot birdie on hole 18 – causing a wild celebration for visitors after Henry left the 10-foot shorts.
“I was very fortunate to experience something great with this game, but it was the most difficult few hours of my life, let’s be honest,” Laurie said. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe the ball came in. I stand up to it and say, ‘This is it.’
After Raleigh’s tie with Henry, British Tyrrell Hutton tied Colin Morakawa in his 10th singles match, giving the Europeans the 14.5 points needed to win the Ryder Cup.
After his victory at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome, McIlroy boldly predicted that the Europeans would boldly win America’s next Ryder Cup.
“It’s good to be right,” McIlroy said. “I’m not always right. I’m absolutely confident in this team. I have absolute confidence in our leader, Luke Donald. Something that the vice captain, the backroom staff, the people don’t see behind the scenes. I think we won in Rome.
The Europeans have won 11 of their last 15 Ryder Cups. This includes five of the last 10 in US soils.
Donald joined Tony Jacklyn (1985, ’87) and became Europe’s second captain to win consecutive Ryder Cups.
“I knew it would be difficult. I didn’t think they would be this difficult on Sunday,” Donald said. “They fought so hard and had all the respect for them. But this clearly means a lot more for me and the team. We came here knowing that this job is very difficult.”
The Europeans only won one singles match on Sunday – Swedish Rudig Åberg defeated Patrick Cantrey 2 and 1 – the lowest total since Britain went 1-6-1 in 1957.
Since 12 games were played, the Americans have the most points in singles with 8.5 points.
However, the US team dug too big a hole in the first two days of the competition.
“The Europeans won one match today,” said US Captain Keegan Bradley. “You’re thinking about the possibility that something like that is going on. It’s incredible on just a coin flip. But when you go out into sports and fight your butts to win, it shows how proud these guys are, and how proud they are of this.”
After dominating the first four pairing sessions and putting a 12-5 lead in the single, the Europeans only needed two points to hold the cup. The Americans worked hard for both.
“We were talking with the vice captain last night that everyone would sleep, so we believed the team could really win,” Bradley said. “Yeah, I was honestly surprised. I was on a smoked team, but we didn’t have that feeling.
“When we went to sleep, I was surprised that these guys believed, ‘We’re going to win this.’ They believed that. They didn’t say that. I was able to trust their eyes. I was able to see it this morning. I was able to see their body language.
The US won five of its first six matches, tied up another to put pressure on the Europeans.
In danger, Scotty Scheffler, who became the first American golfer in the event, scored his first points when he defeated McIlroy 1 in the first match for the Golfers, ranked 1 and 2 in the world.
“We fought really hard yesterday and the first day,” Schaeffler said. “It didn’t work the way I expected, but I was proud to get the points I’m going to get today. It’s hard. It’s grind to play all five matches. Rory and I chatted a bit today as well. It was grind.
Bryson DeDanbaugh, who was five years old to British Matt Fitzpatrick after seven holes, came together to tie four straight birdies and matches.
“The Europeans have won one match today. Just a coin flip, we think about the possibilities of such things. But when we go out into the sport and fight the butts to win, it shows how proud these guys are, and how proud they are.”
US Captain Kie Gun Bradley
Ryder Cup rookie Cameron Young set the Beth Page black scoring record as the 20-year-old, New York native, but scored the Americans’ first points when he beat England’s Justin Rose 1 in his first match. Young was three years old after 12 holes, but Rose won three of the next four holes to tie the match. After Rose missed a 14-foot birdie on No. 18, Young scored 12 footers, reducing the European lead to 12-6.
Two-time major champion Zander Shaufele won Spain’s John Rahm 12-7 on the American side all week.
Justin Thomas provided the Americans with a spark that made them believe they could come back when they defeated England’s Tommy Fleetwood 1 by sinking a 12-foot birdie on the 18th hole. It tightened the advantages of Europeans to 12-8.
Aberg’s victory over Cantrey moved the Europeans within half the points of victory, leading to Laurie’s clutch effort at No. 18.
The Americans scored half points even before the singles match began when Norwegian Victor Hofland was forced to withdraw from the Ryder Cup due to a neck injury. He was scheduled to play in an anchor match against Harris English.
The alternative rules in a captain’s contract require each team to submit the name of one player in a sealed envelope that will not play in the event of an injury to a golfer on the opposing team. I happened to have to watch the action on Sunday in English.