Europe’s golfing gladiators emerged with the glory. No laurel wreath crowns of old, neither money as reward, just the honour and the glory which was what they always wanted.
And, after a final day’s singles in the hills above the Eternal City, where the 12 men of Europe and the 12 men of the United States went toe-to-toe in a drama deserving of the theatre that Marco Simone Golf Club provided, Luke Donald’s team – who had brought a lead of five points into the session – finished the job in style to regain the Ryder Cup.
A singles session that finished 6-6 – five wins apiece and two halved matches – gave Europe an overall win of 16½ to 11½ over the Americans, although that five points margin was far from as comprehensive as the final result would indicate.
Only at the death did the USA bubble deflate, after a terrific effort to perform the comeback of all comebacks. It took a late rearguard action, with Tommy Fleetwood’s win over Rickie Fowler taking Europe to the point of no return, while Shane Lowry – who lived and breathed the match like no other – was, fittingly, the last man standing in ultimately earning half a point from his match with Jordan Spieth.
Paul Waring enjoys his day in the sun as Rory McIlroy edges closer to sixth rankings title
Rory McIlroy stumbles at the last as Shane Lowry makes move in Abu Dhabi
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Rory McIlroy five shots off leader Tommy Fleetwood after first round in Abu Dhabi
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The gladiatorial atmosphere of the first tee saw each player emerge through a tunnel to be met with a wall of noise and, thankfully, with none of the rancour that had been evident in the dying embers of daylight on the 18th green on Saturday evening and which had continued into the clubhouse car park.
Joe LaCava, Patrick Cantlay’s caddie, a central figure along with Rory McIlroy in that particular episode, was on the end of some added spite from the packed horseshoe grandstand wrapped around the first tee.
But, in truth, it was a day when players did their talking with their golf clubs, the example set from the off by the heavyweight duel between Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler.
In perfect conditions, of beautiful sunshine and only the hint of a cooling breeze, Scheffler – who only changed putting coaches in recent weeks, turning to Phil Kenyon – was fragile with the blade in hand early on which contributed to the Spaniard moving into a two hole lead through five holes.
However, Scheffler, the world number one, stuck to his task and held a one-stroke lead on the 18th tee, while Rahm too persevered to get his reward to a match-saving birdie on the closing hole to claim a half point.
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Before that, the second singles had already finished. Viktor Hovland played quite brilliantly, including a run of birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie from the third to take control of the match over Collin Morikawa and the Norwegian claimed a 4 and 3 win to strengthen Europe’s cause. Patrick Cantlay – capless again, but this time having company from Morikawa and Justin Thomas who also played sans headgear – continued to be Patrick Cantlay in closing out Justin Rose on the 17th.
The chronological order of things edged Europe ever closer to the 14½ points needed to wrest the cup from American hands. McIlroy won the first hole against Sam Burns and always stayed ahead until winning 3 and 1, while Tyrrell Hatton’s 3 and 2 win over Brian Harman moved the dial so that Europe led 14-7.
The next, crucial half point or point took an eternity. And, slowly, the USA ate into the lead. Brooks Koepka showed no mercy to Ludvig Åberg. Max Homa had calmly and coolly opted to take a penalty drop from heavy greenside rough on the 18th before then brilliantly getting up and down for a par to close out his match against Matt Fitzpatrick. Xander Schauffele bossed Nicolai Højgaard. And Thomas battled hard for his two holes win over Sepp Straka. Those four American wins closed the gap to 14-11.
“I started to wonder where the next point was going to come from,” admitted Donald.
The bottom three matches were touch and go, until they weren’t.
Fleetwood was one up on Fowler as the pair stood on the 16th tee. First to play, Fowler’s drive was pushed right and suffered a watery grave. When Fleetwood’s 3-wood tee-shot then found the green on the drivable par four, which had been the centre of so much drama throughout the three days, his reaction was to turn to his caddie Ian Finnis and whack him on the back. The hardest part of the task had been done.
When Fowler failed to hole out with his third shot from the drop zone, all that was left was for Fleetwood to roll his eagle putt up to the hole and the conceded birdie ensured Europe – at that point – crossed the magic line.
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Just minutes earlier, Lowry – who had been three down through five after being on the wrong end of a birdie blitz from Spieth only to fight his way back into the match – had played a quite brilliant bunker shot from a greenside bunker on 16 to go all square and, with the roars from Fleetwood’s guarantee of the halved point behind him (the Englishman at that point two up with two to play on Fowler), he then went into the lead for the first time when he sank a 16-footer for a winning par.
The tide had turned Europe’s way. By the time Lowry hit off the par-five 18th and reached his ball, Robert MacIntyre had added another point to Europe’s tally in winning the 15th and 16th holes and then conceded the 17th for a 3 and 1 win over Wyndham Clark.
Fittingly, though, Lowry – the embodiment of emotion in this Ryder Cup – had the last putt, trying to match Spieth’s birdie on the last. The putt didn’t drop, but it hardly mattered, as that moment gave way to an outpouring of emotions and for the huge crowds who had formed around the green – some even jumping into the lake – got the chance to acclaim the winners.
