We wish the Ryder Cup would just last forever. There is something about team golf and playing for one’s country that just brings out the best in every athlete. This year’s Ryder Cup was one of the best competition’s we’ve witnessed with Team USA dominating Sunday Singles at Hazeltine to beat Europe and win the Ryder Cup at 17-to-11. It would be Team USA’s first Ryder Cup victory since 2008.
The week started with four matches during the Friday morning foursomes in which Team USA would sweep and win all four matches. Team Europe would rally back during the four four-ball matches Friday afternoon by winning three points. At the end of the first day, Team USA led 5-to-3. This was a lead that the Europeans could just not catch. Saturday morning foursomes saw Team Europe edge out Team USA 2.5-to-1.5, but again, the other team would rally back in the afternoon. Team USA won three of the four afternoon four-ball matches on Saturday and led the Ryder Cup 9.5-to-6.5 heading into Sunday Singles.
This was familiar territory for Team Europe though after the remarkable “Miracle at Medinah” in which finished the singles matches at 8.5-to-3.5 to retain the Ryder Cup after being down four points. But there would be no miracle this year as Team USA would end up dominating the Singles matches, winning 7.5-to-4.5. The stars of the show were definitely match 1 between Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy as well as match 6 between Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.
Throughout the entire week, Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy were the heart and soul of their respective teams. Both players showed an enormous amount of passion throughout the week – hype does not even begin to describe the emotion these two showed.
“I’ve represented the U.S. three times at Olympics, Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, and all of them have been on the road,” Reed said on Thursday before play began. “Having a Ryder Cup and being able to represent my country in the U.S., is just going to be awesome. I can’t wait to get out there and just hear the crowds just going crazy and all the U.S.A. chants and all that. Because there’s just something about playing for your country, and then playing for your country at home, I can only imagine how awesome it’s going to be.”
Hole after hole on the front 9, both players matched each others shots and pumped up the crowds. It wasn’t until holes 5 through 8 that things really got crazy – it was also the last time European Blue would be atop the leaderboard. On the driveable par-4 fifth hole, Reed smoked his driver from the tee to within 10 feet of the cup and made eagle to Rory’s birdie. Yells and two-armed fist pumps ensued. Both players would birdie the par-5 sixth hole, with Rory unleashing a “come on!” yell as well as fist pumps towards the crowd. Reed would answer, then bow to the crowd in a mocking gesture towards McIlroy followed by a Dikembe Mutombo-like finger wag. It’s only in the Ryder Cup where emotions and gestures like this can be accepted – and it is AWESOME.
The 7th hole was more of the same with both players making birdie. McIlroy would put his fingers to his lips to “SHHH” the crowd like Reed did at Gleneagles. The 8th hole was perhaps the highlight of the match – a par-3, McIlroy came up 50-feet short while reed was just off the green about 25-feet left. Just when you thought that the match was calming down, both players make birdie and lose their minds! Screams and fist pumps from both players ensued – even the pro-American crowd couldn’t believe what they were witnessing and cheered on both players for the remarkable golf that they were playing. All the hype, all the theatrics – and the match was still All Square. The back-nine definitely calmed down a bit, but it was nonetheless filled with tension. It would take all 18-holes for Reed to come out on top of McIlroy in what will be one of the greatest singles matches in the history of the Ryder Cup.
It wasn’t just Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy going toe-to-toe on Sunday though. Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia were both playing out of their minds as well. Mickelson carded 10 birdies and one bogey while Garcia had a flawless nine birdies throughout the match. Matching 63’s – and a halved match! There was definitely pressure on Phil this week after his comments at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles which led to the formation of the Ryder Cup Task Force – he did not disappoint though, going 2-1-1 throughout the week.
Mickelson long believed that continuity and putting the players in the best position to win, but eliminating some of the outside factors that go into the Ryder Cup, was the best way forward. With his outburst at Gleneagles came change – gone are volunteer presidents of the PGA of America picking U.S. captains. Now, there is a succession plan in place, one that would be easy to predict. Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Mickelson and Tiger Woods can all be penciled in as future captains and all were at Hazeltine this week.
Mickelson was so involved that he was jokingly referred to as the team’s de facto captain, even though the official role was held by Davis Love III, who finally got redemption after the crushing 14.5-to-13.5 defeat against Europe four years ago at Medinah, where the Americans blew a 4-point lead on the final day. Europe has won seven of the last ten Ryder Cups, but with a new system in place and a Team USA that is more united than ever, can this be a turning point for the team to dominate in the future? We’ll see in 2018 at Le Golf National in France!
Source: Ryder Cup
