FARMINGDALE, N.Y. \u2014 Say this for Team USA \u2014 they made Sunday at the Ryder Cup interesting, but ultimately the hole Europe put them over the first two days was too much.<\/p>\n
It didn’t matter that Cameron Young and Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schaueffle all came alive Sunday to win their matches and give the U.S. a chance. Or that the U.S. had closed a 12-5 gap all the way to 13\u00bd-10. In the end, the Europeans are hoisting the Ryder Cup again.<\/p>\n
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Starting the day, it looked like it would be a Sunday stroll for the Europeans. But as the day progressed and the Americans kept putting points on the board, this Ryder Cup that was all but over suddenly got competitive … and nerve-wracking for Europe. The Americans won five of the first seven matches, halving another. It wasn’t until Shane Lowry dropped a 6-footer for birdie on 18 to halve his match and give Europe a half-point to get them to the necessary 14 points was it over.<\/p>\n
Lowry, the lovable Irishman, screamed in celebration … and relief.<\/p>\n
Final score: Europe 15, USA 13.<\/p>\n
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This is a Ryder Cup that will be remembered for two factors: the absolute domination of the European team, and the abysmal behavior of the Bethpage gallery, particularly on Saturday afternoon<\/a>. They\u2019re both vexing questions for the United States \u2014 first, because the whole purpose of a Ryder Cup is to win; and second, because the purpose of a home-field advantage is to intimidate, not embolden, the opposition. The Americans failed on both counts, and one way or another, something has to change, both inside and outside the ropes.<\/p>\n In retrospect, the Ryder Cup really ended on the very first match of Friday morning. (Perhaps it ended much earlier \u2014 when Keegan Bradley was selected as captain, when the United States decided to blow up its entire Ryder infrastructure again and again, when U.S. players didn\u2019t spend that extra 10 minutes on the putting green as children. That\u2019s for later analysis.)<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n On Friday morning, a fired-up United States duo of Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas posted a win on the very first hole of their match against Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton \u2026 and then didn\u2019t win another hole all match, falling 4&3 after 15 holes.<\/p>\n That set tones for both teams: Europe as relentless juggernaut, U.S. as withered afterthought. Europe would go on to win the first three matches of the opening session \u2014 none reached the 16th hole \u2014 and the rout was on. By Friday night, the Europeans had a 5\u00bd -2\u00bd lead, along with all the mojo and momentum in New York.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cWe can just turn this thing around in one quick session,\u201d Bradley insisted on Friday night. \u201cYou go out tomorrow and you try to win one session, then you try to win the next one. You don’t need to get all four points in one session.\u201d<\/p>\n Even two points in a session would have been welcome for the Americans, and yet they couldn\u2019t manage even that in any of the four team rounds. Hope turned to frustration turned to desperation, and as Saturday\u2019s afternoon rounds wore on, the Bethpage crowd took it upon themselves to attempt to do what the Americans couldn\u2019t: break the spirit of the Europeans.<\/p>\n The gallery centered its fury on Rory McIlroy, with his mate Shane Lowry taking strays along the way. Obscenities, random noises, shots at McIlroy\u2019s tabloid history and Lowry\u2019s physique filled the air on Saturday afternoon. After six holes\u2019 worth of verbal tirades, even the American players had heard enough, and actively pleaded for the crowd to \u2014 in McIlroy\u2019s words \u2014 \u201cshut the f*** up.\u201d It didn\u2019t help; fans were even throwing beers at McIlroy by the end of the day.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging,\u201d McIlroy said after the round, taking the diplomatic (and, at Bethpage, untraveled) high road. \u201cIt’s not for me to say. People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not.\u201d<\/p>\n As the sun set on a dispirited American, and emboldened European, crowd leaving Bethpage on Saturday night, the margin stood at 11\u00bd Europe, 4\u00bd America \u2026 meaning all Europe needed to do was win a mere 2\u00bd points over 12 Sunday singles matches to retain the Ryder Cup. For professional golfers of Europe\u2019s caliber, that\u2019s about as tough as breaking 100 over 18 holes.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve still got another day. Who knows? You never know,\u201d an increasingly desperate Bradley said Saturday night. \u201cWe can go out there and win. What do we got to win, 10? Wild stuff happens in sports all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n The United States won a half-point without even swinging a club on Sunday morning when Viktor Hovland withdrew with a neck injury<\/a>. Unfortunately for American interests, Europe also claimed a half-point thanks to an odd quirk of Ryder Cup rules that grants a half-point to both sides whenever one player withdraws<\/a>. That meant Europe needed only two points to hold onto the cup heading into Sunday\u2019s singles matches.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a brief moment in almost every Ryder Cup Sunday where it seems like a miraculous comeback is in order. It\u2019s happened before; in 1999, the U.S. was down 10-6 heading into Sunday at Brookline and ended up winning 14\u00bd-13\u00bd. The Europeans flipped the script in 2012, trailing by the same margin, and then winning by the same, at Medinah.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n This year, the Witching Hour happened Sunday right around 3:00, when the U.S. led in four matches, including three of the initial four, and Europe led in only two. That set off a wave of \u201cIf Cam Young and JT hang on, and Cantlay and Henley can flip their matches, and if\u2026\u201d speculation that was mostly hope and fantasy.<\/p>\n Bradley, a Patriots fan, invoked the ghost of 28-3 to inspire his team, but the European team is not the Atlanta Falcons. It has been through this all before \u2014 literally, 11 of the 12 players on this year\u2019s roster were on the 2023 winning team in Rome \u2014 and the Europeans know how to manage stress, nerves, mouthy fans and a few red flags on the leaderboard.<\/p>\n Nowhere was that more evident than on the 13th, where Justin Rose flew the green in his match against Cam Young. Really flew it, as in \u201csent the ball down a hill and all the way to the 14th tee.\u201d Pinned up against a grandstand, firing through trees, Rose simply chipped right up onto the green to win the hole and cut into Young\u2019s lead. The message: Europe is relentless and, apparently, unkillable.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The U.S. made a run, but in the end, it fell to Lowry to close it out for Europe, a putt that set off celebrations all over the course, \u201cOl\u00e9!\u201d cheers all around. Europe will now hold the Cup for at least another two years, until the two teams meet at Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027.<\/p>\n