Europe wins 🇪🇺 🏆

Despite Europe’s huge lead heading into Sunday, the Americans still had the slightest of chances. 

And even with two of Europe’s stars — Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy — winning early in runaway fashion, Team USA’s glimmer of hope lasted for much of the final day.

Scottie Scheffler’s failure to go up-and-down at the 18th (and win his first match of the week) all but guaranteed that the best outcome for the Americans would be a tie. Still, after winning at Whistling Straits in 2021, the US would retain the the Ryder Cup with a 14-14 score.

So, the hope continued — even knowing there was no room for error.

Pressure was at its height in the match between Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, who needed to win his match to extend the Americans’ chances. Homa was 1-up on the Par 5 18th, but put his second shot into the thick rough right of the green. He would take an unplayable.

After Fitzpatrick missed his birdie putt, Homa had 7.5 feet to halve the hole and win the match. A miss would give the Europeans the Ryder Cup.

Homa drained it.

“Did you see my legs shaking?” Homa asked caddie Joe Greiner after the huge make.

Homa, earning a team best 3.5 points this week, said it was Greiner who helped him make the decision to take the unplayable penalty, even with such high stakes.

“Joe Greiner’s the brains. I just swing it,” said Homa, describing his putt as “an out of body experience.”

Remember when I said there was no room for error?

Well, it happened on the short Par 4 16th when Rickie Fowler, making just his second appearance of the week, put his drive into the water. Meanwhile, his opponent, Tommy Fleetwood, knocked it on the green and had a good look at eagle.

If Fowler lost the hole, he would be 2-down with two holes to play, which would secure at least a half point for Europe and get them to their magic 14.5 number.

Tommy left his eagle putt short and had 2 feet 8 inches left for the win — a putt that pros apparently miss around 4% of the time.

But Rickie, who had a good look at par remaining, told Tommy to pick it up. He conceded the hole. And just like that, the Europeans had won.

When all was said and done, the Europeans won in Rome 16.5 to 11.5, marking the 5th Ryder Cup in-a-row with a home team victory of five points or more.

“Not many people gave us a chance after Whistling Straits. We were big underdogs,” Captain Luke Donald said after Sunday’s victory. “We started to show some form in the last six months, and I couldn't be happier with the team I got. I think these guys will be around for a long time, and we're going to put up a great fight in two years' time.”

Rory McIlory (4-1-0 for the week) also wasted no time thinking ahead to 2025, saying: “I think one of the biggest accomplishments in sports is winning an away Ryder Cup, and that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.”

Lasting memories from Rome

The Europeans dominated much of the 2023 Ryder Cup. But still, there was plenty of drama. Here’s what I’ll remember most:

• Luke Donald’s decision to start with foursomes (alternate-shot) on Friday worked wonderfully. The Euros swept the opening session 4-0 and never looked back.

• Europe’s Big Three needed to deliver, and they did — big time. Rory, Rahm, and Hovland didn’t play together all week and still went a combined 9-2-3, earning 10.5 points.

• The Americans played like 💩. Blame it on rust or head colds or those making the decisions at the top. Whatever happened, Team USA didn’t have their A-games and it showed. According to Data Golf, four out of the five worst strokes-gained performances came from the American side (Clark, Spieth, Thomas, and Morikawa), while the only one player from Team USA cracked the top 5 (Patrick Cantlay).

• The strange captaincy of Zach Johnson. It started with an awkward Zoom call to announce his captain’s picks and carried into Rome where he was outmaneuvered by his counterpart from the get-go, said he was “extremely proud” of what his team did on Friday (after not winning a single match in the day for the first time ever), and gave Jordan Spieth perhaps the most questionable intel in Ryder Cup history on the 16th tee box Saturday, which led to a subsequent water ball. In the end, Johnson’s picks went a combined 5-11-4.

• Also, #Hatgate, Joe LaCava, and Rory in the parking lot on Saturday night are memories I probably will never forget.

MVP’s

🇪🇺 Viktor Hovland (3-1-1) set the tone early in each of the three days. Hovland is probably the best golfer in the world right now, and most likely, having the best time out of anyone.

🇺🇸 Max Homa (3-1-1) was the only American with a winning record and provided a much needed spark for Team USA throughout the week. Look for Homa’s performance in Rome to carry into 2024 and maybe even… into the majors?

Honorable mentions

🇪🇺 Robert MacIntyre (2-0-1), incredibly, went undefeated in his Ryder Cup debut. Of course, “Big Shot Rob” was aided by awesome play of his partner-in-crime, Justin Rose. AND, Rahm and Rory were remarkable. But getting 2.5 points from the 55th ranked player in the world was a huge, unexpected lift for the Europeans.

🇺🇸 Patrick Cantlay (2-2-0) after a shaky start, Cantlay almost single handedly willed the Americans back into contention Saturday afternoon amid the #hatgate controversy. Who knew going hatless would mean so much?

Biggest disappointments

🇪🇺 N/A

🇺🇸 Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman, both major winners this year and automatic qualifiers, didn’t have the worst records on Team USA, but also didn’t come through like the Americans needed. On Sunday, both Clark and Harman got down early in their singles matches, which killed almost any chance of a comeback.

Some of my favorite posts to-go

Get “Golf Twitter” completely engaged for an entire weekend, and there’s going to be some incredible content. Here were some of my favorites:

Alright! What a week. Thanks so much for reading and tuning-in. I hope you enjoyed following along!

But, wait! Don’t go too far. We have the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi next week.

I’ll see you on Wednesday for a preview and probably more from the Ryder Cup! Until then, Nick B. 🍻