The Europeans clinched the Cup at 5:15 p.m. when Shane Lowry drained a six-foot putt for the 14th point, but it was not without one last United States flurry.
A Ryder Cup that was a wipeout for the first two days turned thrilling on Sunday, as the Americans sought to erase a seven-point deficit. They came close — Lowry’s 14th point clinched the retention of the Cup, and then Tyrrell Hatton halved his match with Collin Morikawa to win it outright for Europe. The final score was 15-13.
This is the first time either side has won a Ryder Cup on foreign soil since 2012, when the Europeans stormed back on Sunday. The Americans’ victories in 2016 and 2021, the latter by a modern record margin, encouraged the idea in the two years leading up to this Cup that the sides were evenly matched and that home-course advantage was a determining factor.
That theory must be taken back after this week — the Europeans have now won two in a row, six of eight, and 11 of 15 dating back to 1995, before Scottie Scheffler was even born. That said, this was the closest Ryder Cup since 2012.
Since the 28-point format was introduced in 1979, the Europeans were the first team to enter Sunday singles with 11 ½ points, and made it 12 before the first match teed off. Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw from his singles match against Harris English due to a neck injury aggravated on Saturday, resulting in the game being taken off the board and a half-point awarded to both sides.
Leave a Reply