The United States’ comeback attempt came just a little too late.
After two straight days of pure domination at Bethpage Black, Europe has finally secured the Ryder Cup for another two years. Europe fended off a wild late push from the Americans and picked up the two points they needed from Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry to officially retain the cup before play ended for the day. Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre then each won a half point later on to give Europe the official 15-13 win.
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Europe has now won the Ryder Cup in back-to-back outings and has won nine of the last 12. This is also Europe’s first win on American soil since 2012, when it edged out a one-point win at Medinah Country Club.
Europe rolled over the U.S. team to grab a 11.5-4.5 lead entering the final day of the Ryder Cup. Then on Sunday morning, just before the first groups teed off, Viktor Hovland officially withdrew from his singles match due to a neck injury. That resulted in his scheduled match with Harris English being considered a tie, which gave both teams a half point. That left Europe needing just two points to retain the cup.
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Europe fends off American rally
The United States team didn’t just fall flat. They rallied back and made a legitimate, and stunning, push for the cup on Sunday afternoon.
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Justin Rose nearly came back from a three-shot deficit on the back nine, but Ryder Cup rookie Cameron Young sank a 15-footer to beat him at the 18th to put a point on the board right away for the United States. Justin Thomas followed suit with a 12-footer of his own at the 18th to beat Tommy Fleetwood. Thomas is now the first American to win his first four career singles matches since Sam Snead, too. Xander Schauffele quickly closed out Jon Rahm with a 4&3 win, too, which gave the U.S. team three early points in what was a dream start for them.
But Ludvig Åberg, who led Patrick Cantlay for much of the day, quickly closed his match out 2&1 to put Europe on the board for the first time on Sunday. Matt Fitzpatrick fended off a five-point comeback from Bryson DeChambeau to tie their match, too, which gave Europe another half point. DeChambeau’s comeback still marked the largest rally in the last 40 years.
Scottie Scheffler beat Rory McIlroy 1UP, which gave him his first points of the weekend. It He had gone 0-6-2 in the last two Ryder Cups combined up until Sunday’s singles match, marking a truly bad stretch for the top-ranked golfer. J.J. Spaun beat Sepp Straka 2&1 to get another point on the board, too.
But at that point, the U.S. still had to completely run the table to pull off the comeback win. That was just too big of a task. Russell Henley left a 10-footer short after hitting his tee shot in the bunker at the last, which left the door open for Lowry to hit a 6-footer for birdie. That tied their match, and gave Europe the last half of a point it needed to officially retain the cup.
Hatton then secured the official win for Europe when he halved his match with Collin Morikawa. Robert MacIntyre added another half point in the final match of the day to bring Europe to the two-point win.
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Even with the Sunday charge, this now marks back-to-back outings in which the U.S. team has struggled significantly overall in a Ryder Cup. Europe picked up a 16.5-11.5 win two years ago in Italy, too, and it won by seven back in 2018 in France. Europe will undoubtedly be the favorites in two years again when the Ryder Cup heads to Spain in 2027. It’s unclear who will take over as the U.S. team captain by then, too, though the Keegan Bradley and Zach Johnson eras have clearly not gone well. Bradley’s was only saved a bit by a huge finish on Sunday. Phil Mickelson has already taken himself out of the running, though a big name like that may help revive what’s otherwise been a very rough stretch for the Americans on the international stage.
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