Womp womp. Not exactly the highly competitive, nail-biting finish we had anticipated, but it’s still the Ryder Cup. From Friday morning to Sunday afternoon, the world’s top golfers were bouncing around Le Golf Nationale in hopes of bringing the Samuel Ryder Trophy home. Here’s how it played out:

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Day One — FRIDAY
Session 1: Fourballs — USA led Europe 3-1

United States
Europe
Result
Tony Finau / Brooks Koepka
Justin Rose / Jon Rahm
USA wins 1 UP
Dustin Johnson / Rickie Fowler
Rory McIlroy / Thorbjorn Olesen
USA wins 4&2
Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth
Paul Casey / Tyrell Hatton
USA wins 1 UP
Tiger Woods / Patrick Reed
Francesco Molinari / Tommy Fleetwood
Europe wins 3&1

Session 2: Foursomes — Europe leads USA 5-3

United States Europe Result
Dustin Johnson / Rickie Fowler
Henrik Stenson / Justin Rose
Europe wins 3&2
Webb Simpson / Bubba Watson
Ian Poulter / Rory McIlroy
Europe wins 4&2
Bryson DeChambeau / Phil Mickelson
Sergio Garcia / Alex Noren
Europe wins 5&4
Jordan Spieth / Justin Thomas
Francesco Molinari / Tommy Fleetwood
Europe wins 5&4

Day one started off well for Team USA, getting out to an early 3-1 lead, but that was short lived. A sweep of the afternoon matches completely turned the tides of momentum and got the European crowds into the event. Day two wouldn’t go much better for the States.

Day Two — SATURDAY
Session 1: Fourballs — Europe led USA 8-4

United States Europe Result
Tony Finau / Brooks Koepka
Sergio Garcia / Rory McIlroy
Europe wins 2&1
Dustin Johnson / Rickie Fowler
Paul Casey / Tyrell Hatton
Europe wins 3&2
Tiger Woods / Patrick Reed
Francesco Molinari / Tommy Fleetwood
Europe wins 4&3
Jordan Spieth / Justin Thomas
Jon Rahm / Ian Poulter
USA wins 3&1

Session 2: Foursomes — Europe leads USA 10-6

United States
Europe
Result
Dustin Johnson / Brooks Koepka
Justin Rose / Henrik Stenson
Europe wins 2&1
Bubba Watson / Webb Simpson
Sergio Garcia / Alex Noren
USA wins 3&2
Tiger Woods / Bryson DeChambeau
Francesco Molinari / Tommy Fleetwood
Europe wins 5&4
 Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth
Ian Poulter / Rory McIlroy
USA wins 4&3

Back-to-back clean sweeps looked to be in Europe’s grasp as they reeled off a seventh straight match victory on Saturday morning. Only the late heroics of Spieth and Thomas got in the way of that, yet the US team still trailed 8-4. With a split of the afternoon matches, the Europeans were beginning to wrap some fingers around the trophy; needing just 4.5 points in Sunday singles to win the Ryder Cup

Day Three — SUNDAY SINGLES
Down 10-6 heading into Sunday singles (the same score the US trailed by in 1999 at Brookline and Europe trailed by in 2012 at Medinah. Both went on to win) the US needed a massive rally to have a chance to retain the cup. Captain Jim Furyk front-loaded his roster Sunday morning to try and get red on the board early. For a time, it looked as though it may pan out. But in the end, the American momentum just wasn’t enough and Europe prevailed handily, winning by a score of 17.5 to 10.5

United States
Europe
Result
Justin Thomas
Rory McIlroy
USA wins 1UP
Brooks Koepka
Paul Casey
Match halved
Webb Simpson
Justin Rose
USA wins 3&2
Tiger Woods
Jon Rahm
Europe wins 2&1
Tony Finau
Tommy Fleetwood
USA wins 6&4
Dustin Johnson
Ian Poulter
Europe wins 2UP
Jordan Spieth
Thorbjorn Olesen
Europe wins 5&4
Rickie Fowler
Sergio Garcia
Europe wins 2&1
Phil Mickelson
Francesco Molinari
Europe wins 4&2 (clincher)
Patrick Reed
Tyrrell Hatton
USA wins 3&2
Bubba Watson
Henrik Stenson
Europe wins 5&4
Bryson DeChambeau
Alex Noren
Europe wins 1UP

Gotta give it to the Europeans. They played better, they wanted it more, and they deserved the win. Here are the individual records for each player. Most surprising? To me, on the US side its Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas. Tiger hasn’t fared well in this event in the past, but given his form coming in and the “new” demeanor we’ve seen from Tiger, it appeared as though this was the week things would change. On the other hand, Ryder Cup rookie Justin Thomas went 4-1-0 and, along with partner Jordan Spieth, provided a little glimmer of hope for the American team and should at least be considered a positive moving forwards. Honorable mention, the anger coming out of Patrick Reed’s camp. Click here for that little tale.

On the European side, Francesco Molinari going 5-0-0 was unbelievable. What a way to wrap up an incredible season that included winning the European BMW PGA Championship, the British Open, and now undefeated at the Ryder Cup.

Team Europe                                                  Team USA
Franceso Molinari 5-0-0 (5 points)      Justin Thomas 4-1-0 (4 points)
Tommy Fleetwood 4-1-0 (4 points)     Jordan Spieth 3-2-0 (3 points)
Sergio Garcia 3-0-0 (3 points)              Webb Simpson 2-1-0 (2 points)
Henrik Stenson 3-0-0 (3 points)          Tony Finau  2-1-0 (2 points)
Ian Poulter 2-2-0 (2 points)                  Brooks Koepka 1-2-1 (1.5 points)
Justin Rose 2-2-0 (2 points)                  Bubba Watson 1-2-0 (1 point)
Rory McIlroy 2-3-0 (2 points)              Patrick Reed 1-2-0 (1 point)
Paul Casey 1-1-1 (1.5 points)               Rickie Fowler 1-3-0 (1 point)
Alex Noren 1-1-0 (1 point)                   Dustin Johnson 1-3-0 (1 point)
Thorbjorn Olesen 1-1-0 (1 point)       Bryson DeChambeau 0-2-0
Jon Rahm 1-2-0 (1 point)                     Phil Mickelson 0-2-0
Tyrell Hatton 1-2-0 (1 point)               Tiger Woods 0-4-0

Congratulations to Team Europe. They have now won six straight cups on home soil and nine of the last 12. 2020’s event will be hosted by the Americans and played at Whistling Straits Golf course in Wisconsin. No captains have been selected, but it appears as though the Europeans will choose between Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Luke Donald, while the Americans will likely choose one of: Fred Couples, Steve Stricker, David Duval, Phil Mickelson, or Tiger Woods.

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Published by RJ McCullough

Sportsnet Employee - Golf Nerd - Canadian

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