WHAT A TEAM... WHAT A PERFECT DAY
RYDER CUP It’s party time as Europe’s history boys lead charge to Ryder Cup glory
It is hard to imagine sport gets any better than this. Under a cloudless sky at an incomparable venue, Europe won back the Ryder Cup with the winning point delivered by Open champion Francesco Molinari, who became the first European player in the competition’s history to win all five of his matches.
Fifteen minutes later, Sergio Garcia brought home a point as well to officially become the greatest Ryder Cup player of all. He looked up to the sky with a tear in his eye as he thought of Seve Ballesteros, but his contribution runs deeper than even the great man’s. He has now won 25½ points from nine Ryder Cups, to go a half-point ahead of Sir Nick Faldo, who played in 11.
Captain thomas Bjorn had told his team on the eve of the event that this was the stage where they could walk in the footsteps of giants. they not only did that, they kept on walking to create some fresh footprints of their own. What a team. What a captain.
Bjorn listened to the passionate arguments in the build-up that he shouldn’t pick the out-of-form Garcia, but how the Spaniard and the other three wildcards delivered. On singles Sunday, Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter also put wins on the board, while Paul Casey marked his first appearance in a decade by coming home with a half-point following a classic against the two-time major winner this year, Brooks Koepka.
the victory produced scenes you only see at a Ryder Cup. Who says Europe can’t be united? Never mind an ode to joy, here we witnessed a positive explosion. Once the result moved beyond the realms of doubt, the vast banks around the brilliant final four holes where tens of thousands had gathered became a constant, bouncing wall of noise, as the players were heralded in turn.
tommy Fleetwood, his wavy locks flowing in the breeze, found himself swept into the air by a gaggle of delirious French fans. Molinari was sprayed with beer by a group of colourful Brits. the five English players, led by the effervescent Fleetwood, conducted one last, unforgettable Icelandic thunderclap.
Europe had begun the final day with a four-point lead and ended up winning by a 17½-10½ margin. the size of defeat was humiliating for an American team so decorated, one that some had presumptuously thought the best US side ever.
they were supposed to be the ones who brought the cup home from Europe for the first time in 25 years, only for some familiar flaws to reveal themselves. tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson did what they have done so often at the Ryder Cup — failed to deliver. that’s 21 losses from 37 matches for Woods, and 22 from 47 for Mickelson. they are now the two players with the worst losing records in American Ryder Cup history.
Captain Jim Furyk conducted himself with his usual class. But he made some decisions that looked bizarre on paper and proved disastrous in practice. He came into the event with some pairings that had been proven at the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup — then ripped them up and started again.
For just an hour or so during another memorable Ryder Cup afternoon, his mind must have wandered back to Brookline in 1999 and Medinah in 2012, two editions where he was a player and a four-point deficit was overturned.
Rory McIlroy lost a wonderful match on the 18th to America’s most valuable player, Justin thomas. At that moment, it looked entirely possible that America could win the first six matches.
WEBB Simpson was showing why he should have played more than three matches as he took down Justin Rose. Fleetwood, exhausted by his exertions over the first two days, couldn’t get near tony Finau.
With world No1 Dustin Johnson one up on Ian Poulter and Woods all square against Jon Rahm, there was more than a glimmer of concern for Bjorn.
It called for strong minds and big hearts and the first to step up was Casey, who mustered a clutch birdie at the difficult 17th to draw level against Koepka, before halving the 18th. the huge bonus came from Rahm, who won two holes in succession against Woods but then missed from short range at the 16th. How would it affect him at the 17th? Only in a good way, as it turned out.
‘I think that’s the hardest drive I’ve ever hit in my life,’ he said. He followed it with a pitch to six feet and holed the putt. It meant every player in the team had contributed at least a point. Rahmbo went berserk, before bursting into tears as he thought about Seve and his grandfather, who died last month.
then came Poulter. What’s one down against the world No 1 to the postman? From the 13th onwards, he won three holes in a row. Back came Johnson with a 60-foot bomb at the 16th. Poulter had a 12-foot putt to win the match at the 17th and it came as a shock when he missed, but he was not to be denied. two resilient blows to the 18th, and he was home and dry, another point delivered to improve his winning percentage, the best in Ryder Cup history of anyone who has played more than 15 games.
With that point in the bag, the festivities were ready to start. Now it was matter of who would have the honour of claiming the winning point. How fitting when it became clear it would come down to the history boys, Garcia and Molinari.
Here, Mickelson made his one meaningful contribution, as he put one more ball in the water at the 16th to hand the point to Molinari.
By the time the last man out, Alex Noren, came to the 18th green against Bryson DeChambeau, the champagne had been flowing for an hour, and his delirious team-mates were in party mode.
the quiet Swede came up with a moment of his own. On the 18th he was one up but DeChambeau had played a wonderful shot to tap-in distance. Noren was fully 60 feet away. So it was that the 36-year-old took aim and holed the putt. Cue a mad dash across the green by the rest of the team.
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day at another sublime Ryder Cup.