Welcome back to another edition of the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week was a special one for the world of golf, as the highly anticipated bi-annual playing of the Ryder Cup was hosted at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
After being routed in Rome a couple of years ago, the American team was looking to bounce back in a big way on home soil. The core of the team remained pretty much the same, with new additions that included Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Ben Griffin, and JJ Spaun. The European team was pretty much the same across the board, with Rasmus Hojgaard being the only new face as he replaced his brother Nicolai. Even Luke Donald remained the captain for the Euros, while Keegan Bradley had the responsibility for the Americans, despite many believing he should have picked himself as a playing captain after having another great season.
The United States got off to a start eerily similar to that of the Rome Ryder Cup. The Americans lost three of the four matches in the opening foursomes session. The afternoon was more of the same, with the big names for Europe stepping up in a major way. On the American side, world #1 Scottie Scheffler struggled to get going. Scheffler went 0-2 on day 1, and neither match was very competitive. The Americans had some hope to split the afternoon session on Friday, but ultimately fell short after Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay were unable to complete a comeback on the pair of Irishmen McIlroy and Lowry. After the afternoon session, the Euros had jumped out to a dominant 5.5-2.5 lead.
Needing a major comeback on Saturday, the United States were the first team on the board after Cam Young and Bryson DeChambeau beat Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick 4&2. The rest of the matches went Europe's way, as Fleetwood, Rahm, and McIlroy all remained unbeaten. In the afternoon the Americans really had their backs against the wall. Facing a 5 point deficit, the U.S. lost the first two matches and saw Scottie Scheffler fall to 0-4, playing and losing all four matches to this point. San Diego State alums J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele paired up for a 1 up victory over Jon Rahm and Stepp Straka, giving the U.S. a much needed win over Rahm. But that momentum was quickly put to a stop with Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick holding off Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns with a 1 up victory to give the Europeans a 11.5-4.5 lead heading into Sunday, the largest lead heading into singles ever.
Heading into Sunday, the Americans faced an almost insurmountable challenge. They trailed Europe 11.5 to 4.5, meaning Europe would only need to gain 2.5 points to retain the cup. That margin was trimmed to 2 points after Viktor Hovland withdrew due to injury, putting the rarely used Envelope Rule into play, which is an agreement dating back to 1979 that states:
“When the Captains lodge their team selection for Singles play, they must provide a sealed envelope containing the name of one player who is regarded as having been paired with a player who, through illness, injury or other emergency reason, has to withdraw from the other side. Such pairing is regarded as a tied match. If this requires the re-pairing of a match, this will be done down the order of the play. If two players (one from each side) withdraw, then they are treated as having been paired together (regardless of hidden selection) and the two other players from the particular matches will play each other.”
With Hovland out, it was revealed that Harris English was the American player listed in the envelope, so earned a half-point for the U.S. and sat out the singles session.
Knowing they could only lose 1.5 points, the Americans rallied to the cause with some key wins early. Cameron Young capped off his magical Ryder Cup debut with a birdie on 18 to beat Justin Rose 1 up in the first match out on Sunday. Justin Thomas followed suit with a birdie of his own on 18 to knock off the red hot Tommy Fleetwood 1 up. After being down 5 holes after 7, Bryson DeChambeau rallied all the way back to halve his match with Matthew Fitzpatrick, keeping the American hopes alive.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finally scored his first point of the Ryder Cup with a 1 up victory over World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, and all of a sudden the Americans’ hope for a historic comeback was within reach.
Ludvig Aberg put a huge dent in that comeback effort with his 2&1 win over Patrick Cantlay giving the Europeans their only win in the singles session, and within a half-point of retaining the cup, and a full point from winning it.
After Xander Schauffele dispatched Jon Rahm 4&3 and J.J. Spaun rallied from an early 2 hole deficit to defeat Sepp Straka 2&1, there was still a chance for the Americans, but they needed to win the remaining 4 matches to complete the comeback.
Russell Henley held a 1 up lead over Shane Lowry heading into the final 3 holes. Henley made a clutch birdie on 16 to keep his lead going into 17, but left a match-winning birdie putt short, sending this match to the 18th. On the 18th, Henley hit a spectacular shot out of the fairway funker to about 10 feet, putting the pressure on Lowry, who answered by sticking his approach to 6 feet and on a similar line as Henley. Henley had a 2nd putt to win the match and keep the Americans’ hope for a comeback alive, but left his putt just short, opening the door for Lowry, who buried his birdie putt to halve the match, and clinch the half-point needed to retain the cup.
Two matches later, the Europeans would get the winning point from Tyrrell Hatton, who halved his match with Collin Morikawa, securing the Europeans 3rd road Ryder Cup win this century, and first since 2012 at Medinah.
The Europeans will look to make it 3 Ryder Cup Wins in a row in 2027, as they’ll play host to the U.S. at Adare Manor in Ireland.