Europe wins back Ryder Cup

Europe waited two long years for that one moment when the Ryder Cup was back in its hands.

Exactly when it happened Sunday was unclear, making it all the better.

At roughly the same time, in two singles matches on two greens at Le Golf National separated by 150 yards of water, Francesco Molinari and Sergio Garcia each made par to secure at least a half-point, either one giving Europe the 14 1/2 points it needed to regain the Ryder Cup from the Americans.

As the celebration was just getting started, Molinari capped off the first 5-0 week at the Ryder Cup for a European.

Three of those points came at the expense of Tiger Woods, who left France without contributing a point. Molinari won his singles match against Phil Mickelson, officially putting the winning point on the board for Europe and putting Mickelson in the record book for the most losses in Ryder Cup history.

Then, Garcia won his match to set the record for the most career points in Ryder Cup history. It was like that all week. Europe produced stars old and new with a team that was as strong as ever.

“We got it right this week,” European captain Thomas Bjorn said. “We never, ever looked toward their team about what they were about. We were about us as a team and what we do . ... Everything that this Ryder Cup was is what I think the Ryder Cup should be about for a European team.” Mostly, it’s about winning. The final shot came from Alex Noren, who after conceding a short birdie putt to Bryson DeChambeau on the 18th hole, made a 40-foot birdie putt to win the match.

That made it 17 1/2-10 1/2, the biggest Ryder Cup rout in 12 years.

Two years after the Americans thought they had their Ryder Cup problems figured out, Europe reminded them Sunday which team practically has owned that shiny gold trophy for the last quarter-century.

Europe now has won nine of the last 12. The Americans remain winless away from home since 1993.

And there wasn’t much U.S. captain Jim Furyk could do about it.

“They played some great golf this week, and I take my cap off,” Furyk said. “Thomas was a better captain and their team outplayed us. And there’s nothing else more you can say. They deserved to win.”

Molinari was just as good on his own as he was with Tommy Fleetwood, and the best year of his golfing life somehow got better. Just over two months ago, he was posing with that silver claret jug at the British Open as Italy’s first major champion. This felt just as sweet because it was a trophy he shared with a team.