With his team facing the seemingly impossible task of overcoming the largest deficit in Ryder Cup history, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley offered the kind of inspiration that only he could.
“28-3,” Bradley stated on Saturday night, referencing the Super Bowl LI comeback by his beloved New England Patriots and hoping his guys could do the same with their seven-point disadvantage through four sessions.
Who was he kidding, though? The Europeans needed less than a field goal in Sunday singles at Bethpage Black to win the cup for the ninth time in 12 tries. And not far from Yankee Stadium, the visitors were sending out their own Murderers Row early – Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, a combined 14-2-1 through two days, in the first six matches. Add in an automatic tie via Viktor Hovland’s injury withdrawal that pushed the ledger to 12-5 before a shot was struck on the final day, and just two full points were required to retain. This one was effectively over.
And ultimately, yes, the Europeans got the ball through the upright as time expired with a 15-13 result. But Bradley’s squad? It did everything it could with a valiant, last-ditch effort to at least get a fingertip on the winning kick.
The Americans rallied to within three points with four matches left on the golf course late Sunday afternoon before Shane Lowry rolled in a 6-footer for birdie at the par-4 18th to secure the retaining half-point.
“That was the hardest couple of hours of my whole life, honestly,” Lowry said. “I just can’t believe that putt went in. I said to [caddie] Darren [Reynolds] walking down 18, I said, ‘I have a chance to do the coolest thing of my life here.’”
Lowry, whose also won an Open in his home country, capitalized, denying the headline writers any thought of “Bethpage Bounce-back.” Credit to the Americans, though, who had been staring down monikers like “Beatdown at Bethpage.”
“That was a coin flip there for a second,” Bradley said. “Never more proud of anything in my life.”
Since the Ryder Cup moved to five sessions and 28 points in 1979, no team, European or American, had led by more entering singles. Fleetwood was 4-0. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was 0-4. It had been that kind of week, which was made uglier by large swaths of the New York crowd heckling and launching personal insults at the European team members, no target bigger than McIlroy.
Like Babe Ruth against the Cubs in the 1932 World Series, McIlroy had called the Europeans’ shot not once but twice ahead this 45th Ryder Cup. During Europe’s victory presser two years ago in Rome, he spoke to the feat of winning an away Ryder Cup, how it’s one of the most satisfying accomplishments in the sport, and then delivered this guarantee: “And that’s what we’re going to do a Bethpage.” A few weeks ago, he said similar in a message to the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team: “Please beat them because I know we’re going to beat them at Bethpage.”
“It’s nice to be right,” McIlroy said to begin his sixth winner’s presser.
The Americans were favored coming in. They boasted eight of the top 12 players in Data Golf’s world ranking, including Scheffler and golf’s Sultan of Swat, Bryson DeChambeau. But McIlroy knew deep down who possessed the real edge. His side had the continuity, with 11 returning players from that five-point Rome rout – and a dozen of the same surnames, with Rasmus Hojgaard replacing his twin, Nicolai. They had the experience, with not only three fewer rookies but a combined 32 previous Ryder Cup starts to the Americans’ 15. And, if you believed them, they had the stronger motivations. As European captain Luke Donald said in his opening-ceremony speech: “We are fueled by something money cannot buy – purpose, brotherhood, and a responsibility to honor those who came before us, while inspiring those whose time is yet to come.”
After money dominated the lead-up to an event that left no stone unsponsored, Bradley and his players were bombarded with early-week questions about the PGA of America’s decision to pay each competitor $500,000 while their counterparts continue to play for free. Once the first tee ball was struck, however, the attention shifted to Bradley’s decision-making, mainly his choice to run out the foursomes partnership of Collin Morikawa and Harris English for not one but two bludgeonings at the hands of McIlroy and Fleetwood despite Data Golf ranking that pairing as Bradley’s worst of 132 possible combinations. That wasn’t the only head-scratcher, and his stars did little to bail him out.
“We wanted to stick with the plan, and that’s what we did,” Bradley said Saturday night.
Somehow, it almost paid off in what would’ve been an unprecedented comeback.
Sunday tickets, originally going for four figures, began plummeting on resale markets, some below $400, including fees. With the get-in price substantially lowered, it sounded as if many of the available tickets were being gobbled up by the European faithful, excited to step up to the challenge of drowning out those drunken jeers. A shift in atmosphere was noticeable, though it wasn’t enough to quiet the U.S. supporters and spare McIlroy more boos and taunts – in fact, several fans discovered that one alcoholic beverage available at the concessions came with a squeaky rubber duck floating in it; McIlroy, unsurprisingly, wasn’t amused as he faced Scheffler in a matchup of one versus two. “I don’t think we should ever accept that in golf,” McIlroy said of the hostility. “I think golf should be held to a higher standard than what was seen out there this week.”
No matter the ledger, there seems to always be a sliver of hope for those trailing on these Ryder Cup Sunday mornings, and the sportsbooks still had this contest on the board, albeit with the U.S. listed around +15000 or more.
As another Yankee great, Yogi Berra, once said as the manager of the rival Mets, “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.” Deep down, the American players felt that.
“We were talking with the vice captains last night when everyone went to bed that the team really believed they could win,” Bradley said. “Like I was honestly pretty surprised. I was on a team that got smoked and we did not have that feeling. When we went to bed, I was just astonished at how these guys were like, we’re going to win this, and they believed it.”
With Young taking the first hole against Rose in the leadoff match and DeChambeau nearly driving the first green in the third match opposite Matt Fitzpatrick, the Americans struck first on Sunday, igniting the U.S. crowd that were determined to at least go down loudly. Young earned the day’s first point, holding off a late charge by Rose and sinking a 12-foot birdie before unleashing easily the biggest celebration of the stoic rookie’s life. DeChambeau lost that opening hole with par and fell 5 down through seven, though he punched back to tie the match with one hole to play after Fitzpatrick lipped out a 7-footer for par at the par-3 17th.
Between them, Thomas handed Fleetwood, previously 4-0, his first loss of the week by pouring in a 12-footer of his own at the last. His reaction outdid Young.
“It’s very obvious that this is an extreme longshot, but it had to be done with some of us in the beginning,” Thomas said, “so I’m just so glad that Cam and I could finish like that to at least give us a little bit of hope.”
Moments later, Europe made a couple strides closer to victory. Ludvig Aberg closed out Patrick Cantlay, 2 and 1, and Fitzpatrick managed a half-point against DeChambeau, who was so distracted by pumping up the fans that he initially forgot to shake Fitzpatrick’s hand.
Suddenly, Europe was less than a point away from retaining the cup. But there was also no blue on the board, and four of the six remaining matches being led by the U.S., which had but one option: run the table.
Scheffler followed with his first win of the competition, only needing 1-under golf to beat McIlroy, 1 up – and the emotions came out in his post-round interview with NBC’s Damon Hack while talking about how his teammates had picked him up.
Adding to Scheffler’s breakthrough were wins by Xander Schauffele (3 and 2 over Jon Rahm) and J.J. Spaun (2 and 1 against Sepp Straka), which moved the home side to double-digits, 13.5-10.5. But Henley’s miss from 10 feet at the last gave Lowry the read, and the Irishman wasted no time finding the bottom of the cup.
The final session ended with a Ben Griffin point (1 up over Hojgaard), three ties, and most notably, the Europeans winning just one match on a day in which Fleetwood, Rose, McIlroy and Rahm all lost.
“I knew it would be tough,” Donald said. “I didn’t think they would be this tough on Sunday, they fought so hard, and all the respect to them.”
The respect was mutual from Bradley, whose said his biggest regret was how he set up the golf course. The Black Course’s benign layout, softened by mid-week storms, essentially turned this Ryder Cup into a putting contest – and even with the Americans’ Sunday turnaround, Europe still boasted six of the seven best putters, according to strokes gained, prompting Thomas to say, “That’s what Keegan needed; he needed us to make more putts.”
“He turned this European team into a really unstoppable force, especially the first two days,” Bradley said of Donald, “and you know, in my eyes, I think he’s the best European Ryder Cup captain ever.”
Donald’s biggest strength? His attention to detail.
When the doors to the players’ rooms at the Garden City Hotel let too much light in, Donald had the cracks covered.
When the hotel shampoo didn’t smell great, he bought containers of Le Labo.
When the bedding was unacceptable, he completely changed it out.
“You want create an environment where they can succeed,” Donald said. “These are 12 amazing players, we know that. You’re just trying to put them in a position where they feel comfortable.”
But ultimately, Donald argued, “You absolutely need your big guns to fire, and that’s what we are proud of, that the U.S. guys’ big guys, their guns, they didn’t get as many points as ours.”
McIlroy, Rahm and Fleetwood earned a combined 10 points, double that of Scheffler (1-4), DeChambeau (1-3-1) and Schauffele, who equaled Young’s 3-1 record.
Europe’s motto all week was, “Our time, our place.” In the practice rounds, they sported kits that paid homage to the four previous European teams that had crossed enemy lines and prevailed, including Jose Maria Olazabal’s 2012 squad that donned fuchsia polos on Sunday before orchestrating the “Miracle at Medinah.”
“My job, again, is to give them the reasons to make them believe that they can win,” Donald said.
There would be no Medinah-esque phenomenon on this Sunday.
For the fifth time on U.S. soil, to the visitors went the spoils.
And the Americans? They’re on to Adare Manor.