Europe claimed a comfortable victory at the 44th Ryder Cup held in Italy. Staged at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Team Europe reached 16.5 points. Team USA managed 11.5 points. It is the eighth win to Europe at the Ryder Cup from the last 11 contests.
Team Europe got off to a hot start on Day One winning all four points on offer from Friday morning Foursomes. The clean sweep was the first time in Ryder Cup history the European team led 4-0 at the conclusion of the first session. Rahm & Hatton gained the first point at this Ryder Cup downing Scheffler & Burns 4&3. Moments later, Hovland and Ryder Cup debutant Aberg added another point for Europe as they crushed American duo Homa & Harman 4&3. Lowry & Straka overcame Fowler & Morikawa 2&1. Finally, McIlroy & Fleetwood completed the morning whitewash with a solid 2&1 victory over Schauffele & Cantlay. The afternoon session was a tighter contest with three halved matches. McIlroy & Fitzpatrick smashed Morikawa & Schauffele 5&3 to give Europe a massive lead at the end of Day One 6.5 to 1.5. It was the first time that Team USA failed to win a single match in a day in Ryder Cup history.
Saturday was a tale of two halves. Europe continued their stronghold on the coveted trophy claiming three of the four points in the morning. Team USA finally turned up on Saturday afternoon recording three points to Europe’s one point. Aberg & Hovland made more Ryder Cup history in the second match on Saturday morning winning their foursomes match against Scheffler & Koepka 9&7. It was the biggest victory in an 18-hole match at the Ryder Cup ever!
When Cantlay & Clark defeated Fitzpatrick & McIlroy 1up in the last match on the course on Saturday evening, Europe held on to a resounding 10.5 to 5.5 lead.
All eyes were on Sunday singles with the 12 head-to-head matches going to decide the fate of the 2023 Ryder Cup. Europe required four points from the 12 points on offer to claim the Cup back from the Americans. Team USA needed a miracle similar to the Battle of Brookline in 1999 when they came back from a 10-6 deficit to steel the Cup from the Europeans 14.5 to 13.5. Luke Donald’s men started strong on Sunday and raced to 14 points and within just a halved match from victory after the first five contests. Hovland brushed aside Morikawa 4&3. Rahm halved with Scheffler. McIlroy overcame Burns 3&1. Hatton outlasted Harman 3&2. Cantlay beat Rose for the sole American victory from those first five completed games. Team USA fought back winning the next four matches. Koepka defeated Aberg 3&2. Homa narrowly accounted for Fitzpatrick 1up. Schauffele beat debutant Hojgaard 3&1. And, Thomas was too good for Straka winning 2up. With three matches left on the course, the scoreboard momentarily tightened to 14-11 in Europe’s favour. Finally, European fans could celebrate victory with Fleetwood gaining the 15th point after defeating Fowler 3&1. MacIntyre earned Europe their 16th point with his 2&1 victory over Clark. Lowry and Spieth produced the final result with their halved match moving the scoreboard to finish at 16.5 to 11.5.
McIlroy was the standout contributor of the event gaining Europe four points from his five outings. Hatton was a brilliant performer producing 3.5 points from his four starts. Hovland and Homa were the next best points producers with 3.5 points from five matches.
The 45th Ryder Cup will be staged on US soil in September 2025 at Bethpage Black Course, New York.
Europe 16.5 v USA 11.5
Image credit: Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR via Getty Images
