Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Americans still down, not out at Ryder Cup
Cantlay gives U.S. semblance of hope
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — Europe has a five-point lead and history on its side in the Ryder Cup. No team has ever come back from that large a deficit going into the singles session. The Americans have not won on the road before a flag-waving crowd in 30 years.
The tension Saturday evening told a different story.
Patrick Cantlay, with no cap but plenty of mettle, birdied his last three holes to hand Rory Mcilroy his first loss at Marco Simone. The last putt was 45 feet and it fired up the rest of the American team — maybe too much.
Mcilroy took exception with Cantlay’s caddie, Joe Lacava, getting in on the celebration as Mcilroy and Matt Fitzpatrick had two birdie looks to halve the match. Later, Mcilroy had to be held back near the clubhouse as the bickering over behavior continued.
“He politely asked Joe to move aside. He was in his line of vision,” European captain Luke Donald said. “He stood there and didn’t move for a while and continued to wave the hat. So I think Rory was upset about that.”
U.S. captain Zach Johnson wrote it off as Ryder Cup passion. Whatever it was, the moment brought a spark to a Ryder Cup that otherwise has been ruled by the Europeans.
They won the foursomes session in the morning handily, backed by the most lopsided match in Ryder Cup history that brought Scottie Scheffler to tears. And even with Cantlay’s gutsy finish, Europe still had a 10½5½ lead going into the 12 singles on Sunday.
Cantlay gave them a glimmer of hope.
“If there’s any tournament in the world that’s about momentum, it’s this one,” Johnson said.
Momentum still has a monster mountain to climb at Marco Simone.
“Listen, we are in a great position, five points ahead going into the singles at home,” Donald said.
Scheffler will face Jon Rahm in the opening match Sunday, a rematch of Whistling Straits in 2021 when Scheffler started with four straight birdies and won easily. They have been the two players who have exchanged turns at No. 1 in the world this year.
Europe needs to win only four points from those 12 matches to regain the cup. Johnson wasn’t about to reprise Ben Crenshaw’s famous, “I have a good feeling about this” speech on the eve of the final day at Brookline in 1999 when the Americans rallied from a 10-6 deficit.
“We’ve got 12 guys. We’ve got 12 points. I believe every guy on my team can win a point,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
Europe overwhelmed the Americans again in foursomes, no example greater than Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg. They needed only 11 holes — 2 hours, 20 minutes — to beat Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
The 9-and-7 victory was the largest in Ryder Cup history over 18 holes. Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, was seen wiping away tears as he watched the afternoon fourballs.