Americans rout Europeans to win Ryder Cup

SHEBOYGAN, WIS. » Steve Stricker hoisted the Ryder Cup, gold and glorious, for all to see. Then, he quickly huddled his young American team together to make sure all 12 players had their hands on it.

Nine of them had never touched the 17-inch trophy in a moment of celebration.

They don’t expect it to be the last time, either.

More than just winning back the Ryder Cup on Sept. 26, the youngest U.S. team in history handed Europe its worst loss and delivered a strong message about how serious it is about changing the tone of these matches.

Daniel Berger won the final hole in the final match for the final point in a 19-9 victory, breaking by a half-point the record margin since Europe became part of the Ryder Cup in 1979.

“This is a new era,” Stricker said. “These guys are young. They want it. They’re motivated. They came here determined to win. I could see it in their eyes.”

The six U.S. Ryder Cup rookies scored more points than all of Europe, combining for a 14-4-3 record.

The Americans didn’t lose a session for the first time in 44 years. Dustin Johnson became the first American to go 5-0 since 1979.

They had the best team on paper. They played even better on grass.

“It’s not just the strongest U.S. team I’ve seen, but they all played well this week,” Lee Westwood said. “Everybody performed and turned up this week. Looks like they are a team.”

The Americans finally looked like Europe, which has dominated the Ryder Cup by winning nine of the last 12 until getting routed along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Staked to a six-point lead — no team has ever rallied from more than four points going into the last day — the Americans quickly filled the scoreboards with their red numbers.

Scottie Scheffler took down the No. 1 player in the world with a 4-and-3 victory over Jon Rahm. Scheffler won the opening four holes and birdied five of the first six. He was among three rookies who were unbeaten this week.

Bryson DeChambeau smashed his tee shot on the 373-yard opening hole onto the green and then holed the 40-foot eagle putt to start out his win over Sergio Garcia.

The clinching blow came from Collin Morikawa, at 24 the youngest player on the team and already a two-time major champion. He made a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that assured the Americans at least the 14 ½ points they needed. They wanted more. “I woke up this morning and I was trying to tell the guys, ‘Let’s get to 20 points,’ because this is going to be the next era of Ryder Cup team for the U.S. side,” Patrick Cantlay said after he completed an unbeaten week with a win over Shane Lowry.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys. I think they’re going to be on teams for a long time, and I wanted to send a message.”

Tony Finau had said on the eve of these matches that this was “the big one.” The Americans had so many fresh faces without any lasting scars from watching Europe celebrate so much over the years. It was a chance to change the culture, and this was a massive step.

The gallery saved one of its loudest cheers for Stricker, the Wisconsin native who has been at the helm of two blowouts. He guided the U.S. team to a 19-11 victory in the Presidents Cup in 2017 and added his signature piece at Whistling Straits.

Johnson became the first American since Larry Nelson in 1979 to win all five matches.