Europe hold off tense USA fightback for Ryder Cup triumph

United States Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk admits he should have done some things differently as the inquest into their defeat at Le Golf National began. Phil Mickelson followed that shot by sending his tee shot into the water, handing the win to Molinari and the Europeans.

“I’m one of the contributing factors to why we lost the Ryder Cup, and it’s not a lot of fun”, the veteran American said, according to The Guardian.

“This team has been incredible from the start”, Molinari said.

“I was not playing my best and I spent more time hitting balls throughout the week than I have all year trying to find something that would click and it’s just been a struggle”.

Some had questioned the wisdom of taking the 42nd edition of the biennial team event to France for the first time, away from the sport’s European heartland of Britain and Ireland. We just didn’t execute…

Four-time major victor Rory McIlroy endured a last-hole collapse and lost 1-up to American four-point rookie Justin Thomas in the opening match. Just like Graeme McDowell in 2010, Martin Kaymer in 2012, Donaldson in 2014 and, uh, Ryan Moore in 2016, it represents a moment I won’t soon forget. Koepka played better but went 1-2-1, and the USA never looked fully comfortable with the course, where Europe came in having played a combined 236 tournament rounds compared to eight for the U.S.

Alex Noren and Bryson Dechambeau then found themselves alone on the course – but for 70,000 fans – as the final match carried on to decide only the margin of victory. World rankings have never been much of a guide to team matchplay golf and, considering they only arrived on Wednesday in the immediate aftermath of the FedEx Cup, this was always going to be a tough gig. On Sunday, he eagled the ninth hole and birdied the 12th, but as LaCava said, “That’s never going to be enough in something like this”. Fleetwood told how he and Molinari discussed their potential dream partnership on the beach before captain Thomas Bjorn showed “faith” by pairing them throughout the foursomes and fourballs.

The U.S. was on cruise control at the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah before Ian Poulter went on a insane run of birdies and he and Rory McIlroy emerged with a crucial point for Europe. At a time when the continent is politically fractured, its golfers have found a shared objective and a bond to carry them forwards.

“It’s been a rough year, but we fought hard”.

His performance came despite ending a five-year wait to win a PGA Tour title, the PGA Championship, the weekend before. We know how to get the job done’. And we were put as players in a position to succeed, and these guys up here are such great players that, if you put these players in a position to succeed, they most often will.

But Europe’s experienced players down the order all took a firm grip of their matches, and rookies Thorbjørn Olesen and Jon Rahm claimed the notable scalps of Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods. His singles loss to Webb Simpson was surprising. “When it was there for us, Europe played really well”. Spieth is now 0-6 in singles matches in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Bjorn picked him anyway, saying he was the heart and soul of the European team, and Garcia responded by going 3-1.

“I might have to send them [Europe’s players] a picture”.

Even in singles, the one Ryder Cup format where he had a good record, Woods could not rise to the occasion, losing for the first time since his debut against Costantino Rocca in 1997.