Ryder Cup Disappointment for Europe
And so it was not to be for Team Europe, as they were outclassed by a thoroughly excellent Team USA side on the final day of a Ryder Cup that had already seemingly been lost on Saturday night. After Lee Westwood missed an easy putt to ensure that Europe went into Sunday's singles matches three points down at 9.5-6.5, it looked like an incredibly tough ask for Europe, who had picked up just one point in Saturday's fourballs, the imperious pair of Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters the only pairing to secure a result.
The phrase: "the real winner is golf" is one that could have been used multiple times on Sunday night, to describe a couple of the truly astonishing singles' matches that took place. But the truth is that Team USA battered and bruised a Europe side that were nowhere near them overall. The fact that the final score was 17-11 reflects the US team's overall domination of a weekend where the European team had standout individuals, but the US team had a team of superstars. If the upper half of the singles scorecard was a tasty, gloriously fought out battle, with the heavy hitters going head to head and some truly masterful golf all around, then the bottom half was a massacre, as the US won five of the last six matches out on the course. At one point, the score was as narrow as 10.5-9.5, but there were no illusions of a miracle in Hazeltine, as the US's experience dominated and toppled a Europe side that had all the flaws that people thought it did beforehand.
The rookies flopped hard: as Wood, Sullivan, Fitzpatrick and even Danny Willett were drowned in the sea of red. Wood lost narrowly to Dustin Johnson in a topsy turvy match that the American was always favourite to win and ended up winning far more comfortably than the scorecard suggested. Fitzpatrick was outclassed by Johnson's brother Zach, who took the initiative and never let the match slip. Brandt Snedeker, another experienced American head, saw off Andy Sullivan with similar ease. There were periods of the evening when Europe were edging out these matches, but never a period where they were in control, and the US class shone through. One man who had a truly horrible day at the office was Willett, easily the most talented of the rookies, who was butchered by the excellent Brooks Koepka to top off his wretched weekend, having lost all three matches he played in.
And then there's the captain's picks. Martin Kaymer may have pacified some of those calling his selection a poor choice after two poor displays playing with Sergio Garcia, but in truth by the time he stole a lead in his match against Matt Kuchar, it was already obvious that it was irrelevant. Lee Westwood on the other hand, proved to be an unmitigated disaster. He was picked on experience rather than form and that decision proved very costly. Westwood cost his team a point on Friday, he cost his team at least a half on Saturday, and even if the Ryder Cup was already over by the time he did it on Sunday, he threw away a two hole lead with three to play to lose his match to US rookie Lee Moore. Played three, lost three. Not good enough Lee.
But whilst the Ryder Cup was surely lost in these lower echelons, where the US had bags more talent and experience, the top order was nevertheless disappointing for Europe, if not for golf as a whole. The filibuster opening of Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy lived up to its top billing hype, with two players playing sensational golf through the front nine and piledriving their way through the back nine. But in truth, whilst Reed just kept playing the golf of his life, McIlroy just ran out of steam. He's had a long and at times difficult weekend, and when it came to the crunch, his form deserted him, and Reed sneaked the win.
Likewise, Justin Rose also continued the putting woes that had plagued him all weekend. Playing with Henrik Stenson for most of the weekend, Rose has missed key putt after key putt this tournament. And on Sunday that cost him dearly, as he missed multiple chances to kill off the tenacious Rickie Fowler, who punished him by winning the last hole to see off his European competitor. The losses of McIlroy and Rose were surely morale destroying, and filtered down to the rest of the struggling team.
But as I mentioned at the start of this article, Europe had its standout individuals. First and foremost, I want to talk about the two rookies: Thomas Pieters and Rafa Cabrera-Bello. Pieters was a captain's pick, coming into this Ryder Cup in scintillating form, but lost his first match playing with the abominable Lee Westwood. From there, Clarke put him with Rory McIlroy and that proved to be a match made in heaven, as the two saw off Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, then Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickleson and finally DJ again, playing with Koepka. But to suggest that McIlroy carried the youngster would be patently false, as Pieters more than carried his weight and proved that on Sunday as he saw off JB Holmes, despite being two down after two holes. Pieters was calm, collected and played excellent golf all weekend. His total of four points is the highest ever for a European rookie, and the best performance of anyone this weekend.
And then the Spaniard, Cabrera-Bello, who twice was paired up with fellow countryman Sergio Garcia. The first time round, they pulled off one of the great Ryder Cup moments, as four holes down with six to play, they managed to come back and level their match against US giants Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth. Spieth was disappointing over the course of the weekend, carried at times by his teammate, the phenomenal Reed, and lost his own singles match to another European giant, Henrik Stenson, who has played excellent golf this weekend.
And buoyed by that stunning result, Cabrera-Bello and Garcia saw off Moore and Holmes, before the rookie Rafa faced PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker and took him apart, making Cabrera-Bello the only member of team Europe not to lose a single match, picking up two and a half points from three matches, with only Brandt Snedeker's three from three a better record.
But the final word has to go to Cabrera-Bello's partner Garcia and opponent Phil Mickleson who played the match of the weekend on Sunday evening, possibly one of the greatest Ryder Cup matches ever seen. Between them they notched up a staggering 19 birdies across 36 holes, both of them finishing -9. Across the 18 holes, there were only four holes that neither of them birdied. It was justice that that incredible, fantastic match finished all square, with no quarter given, even though the half suited the US far more than Europe. It's also fitting that that was the only match to finish even, on a day when the US won seven of the other eleven available.
So overall, Team USA deserved their win, (although to be fair with a scoreline as imperious as 17-11 it would be nigh on impossible to argue otherwise) putting in a terrific team display. Whilst a lot of the matches over the weekend, and even on Sunday were reasonably close, the final six matches were a wall of red that signaled a brutally effective and impressive US victory, with Koepka, Snedeker, Reed and Mickleson amongst the best of it. But the simple fact is, four European players didn't contribute a single point, three of them rookies, and not a single US player failed to score. And that, in black and white, tells you all you need to know.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Oh dear Mourinho.
- Oh dear Kolarov.
- Oh dear the Burnley/Arsenal officials.
- Oh dear Lewis Hamilton's mechanics.
- Oh dear Swansea's decision to sack Guidolin.
- Oh dear Tyson Fury.
- Oh dear Durham.
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