American fans have been dreaming of a big day for Team USA. On Sunday, they finally got it.
Yes, it may have been too little, too late. But you only have to look at the reactions of some of the victorious European players to understand just how close their American opponents came to the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history.
“I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game,” said a tearful Shane Lowry moments after he sank the putt that saw his team retain the trophy. “That was the hardest couple of hours of my whole life, honestly. I just can’t believe that putt went in.”
After an inspired start from the ever-more impressive Cameron Young, it all started to go a bit pear-shaped for the Americans.
Bryson DeChambeau looked to seize the initiative with a trademark 350-yard drive, but some sloppy follow up shots had the 32-year-old scrambling. After no time at all, his opponent Matt Fitzpatrick had a commanding lead.
Elsewhere, Europe’s big names were showing their best yet again as Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy established early advantages against Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler, respectively.
Leads for Justin Rose, Ludvig Åberg and Sepp Straka were soon added, and the result looked even more of a foregone conclusion than it had done at the start of play on Sunday.
Thoughts began to shift to record margins of victory. It was not a case of “If?” It was barely a case of “When?” It became a case of “By how much?”
Then something happened.
Quite what it was is difficult to pin down. Things can change quickly at the Ryder Cup, but this was remarkable even by the tournament’s standards.
Scheffler tied his match with McIlroy. Young did the same against Rose.
Chunks of the board turned from blue to white, then from white to red.
Even DeChambeau, who had found himself down by five after seven holes, had started to eat away at Fitzpatrick’s lead.
Bethpage was believing again. There were wins for Young, Thomas, Schauffele, and Scheffler, as well as an incredible tie for DeChambeau.
But a victory for Åberg would finally stem the red tide, and a few minutes later, Lowry was on hand to tie with Russell Henley and ensure there would be no fairytale in New York. Tyrrell Hatton’s own tie with Collin Morikawa was enough for an outright victory.
The European celebrations, especially from Lowry, were predictably jubilant. However, they were also tinged with a hint of shell shock. No one expected it to be this close.
Heading into the tournament, McIlroy said that winning a Ryder Cup on foreign soil was the hardest thing to do in sports.
On Sunday, Team USA made sure that was the case.
