Windswept Europe battered by Americans in Wisconsin

UNITED STATES  [19] | [9] EUROPE

EUROPE suffered a record-breaking Ryder Cup defeat, losing four of the five sessions to be crushed 19-9 by the United States at the Whistling Straits course in Wisconsin. 

Previously, since 1979, when players from Continental Europe were first invited to the competition, the record score was 18½-9½ - achieved once by the Americans in 1981 and twice consecutively by Europe in 2004 and 2006.

But, after Matt Fitzpatrick, in the final match of the Singles, dumped his second shot into the water on the 18th, the history books had to be rewritten. 

It basically confirmed the total dominance of the United States under captain Steve Stricker in this edition as they completed a first ever 10-point win over Europe. 

Rather oddly, in hindsight at least, Europe won the first point of the competition as Spanish pair Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia defeated Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. 

However, the visitors did not win another match for the remainder of the opening day.

The United States won the remaining three foursomes matches as Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa (3&2), Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger (2&1), and Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (5&3) beat Paul Casey and Viktor Hovland, Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter. 

Then, in the afternoon fourballs, the hosts doubled their advantage as Johnson and Schauffele (2&1) beat Casey and Bernd Wiesberger while Tony Finau and Harris English (4&3) beat McIlroy and Shane Lowry. The other two matches finished all-square. 

Europe needed a fast start in the foursomes on Saturday morning and seemed up for the fight, going up in two matches and holding parity in another around the turn. 

But, in keeping with the rest of the weekend, the American players were far superior on the greens and took another big step towards the trophy by winning 3-1 in the session for a third time in a row. 

Thomas - rested for the fourballs in the afternoon - was already in jovial mood and chugged down a beer on the first tee to the delight of a partisan home crowd.

However, the fourth session was finally a more even contest as Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton (1up) and Rahm and Garcia (2&1) took the top two matches for Europe. 

Scottie Scheffler and DeChambeau (3&1) and Johnson and Morikawa (4&3) replied in kind for the United States as McIlroy conceded his match on the 15th green for a third time. 

As such, it was more out of necessity than anything else that Europe captain Padraig Harrington put on a brave face and refused to give up hope. 

"It's still possible," said the Irishman. "It's only half a point more than we won in the Singles at Medinah. There's no doubt that is going to be strong in our minds." 

But this was never going to be another Medinah miracle. Simply put, there were too many American players in good form and too many Europe players in poor form, something which again became crystal clear in the Singles. 

In fairness, McIlroy recovered some personal standing for the week with a strong 3&2 win over Olympic gold medal winner Schauffele, ahead of a highly emotional interview in which he lamented his own performances. 

However, five of the next six matches went to the Americans as Cantlay, Scheffler, DeChambreau, Johnson and Koepka beat Lowry, Rahm, Garcia, Casey and Wiesberger, respectively. 

Oddly, the tipping point came in the only match of that half dozen which the United States did not win as Morikawa settled for a half against Hovland. 

That was enough to make it official, though - and, with Morikawa's half-point, the young United States team could begin to celebrate the return of the Ryder Cup to American soil. 

At the same time, there were still matches out on the course and a place in the record books to chase. 

But, after surprise wins for the out-of-sorts Poulter and Westwood over Finau and English - and Fleetwood's tied match against Spieth, it actually looked like the United States might miss out on the outright record. 

Berger and Fitzpatrick approached the 18th tee all-square - and another tied match would have left United States on the previously-achieved total of 18½. 

Better still, if Fitzpatrick could have eeked out a win of hole and match, European blushes may have been further somewhat spared. Instead, as mentioned above, Fitzpatrick found the water to lose the hole and match. 

Taking the weekend as a whole, though, the margin of this defeat was actually the least that the United States deserved - while it also should leave no hiding place for the Europeans when they come to analyse their own performance. 

Iain Carter, writing for the BBC, mentioned the restrictive qualification system in which four players qualify automatically from the European points list and five from the world rankings list leaving space for just three wildcards. 

However, Ewan Murray was slightly more critical of Harrington, specifically with regard to the "inflexible" pairings picks of the Irishman, with the contest effectively lost on the first two days. 

In reality, though, there was no way of stopping this hungry, well-oiled United States outfit, something which their skipper Stricker was not slow to acknowledge. 

"This is a new era right here," said Stricker. "They are young, motivated, [and] they came here determined to win."

Of course, it should also be noted that home wins have become extremely commonplace in the recent history of the Ryder Cup - seven of the last eight events have been won by the hosts. 

Indeed, this edition was particularly difficult for the Europe players as travel restrictions reduced their on-course support in Wisconsin to a handful of hard-core fans. 

Meanwhile, on that subject, many American fans ramped up their habitual displays of classlessness far beyond even their usual level, booing and heckling the Europe players from tee to green.

But the quality - and, indeed, the unity - of the American players shone through all weekend. The home side featured eight of the top 10 in the world rankings. 

Additionally, eight of the 12 Americans are in their 20s - which rather suggests there will be a first away win in 30 years for the United States in 2023.

That edition, which will be hosted by the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia Montecelio near Rome, will be here in the blink of an eye. 

And, while Europe must rebuild, the United States could name their team tomorrow.

2021 RYDER CUP • The full results

• Foursomes (Fri)
Justin Thomas | Jordan Spieth			3&1	Jon Rahm | Sergio Garcia
Dustin Johnson | Collin Morikawa	3&2			Paul Casey | Viktor Hovland
Brooks Koepka | Daniel Berger	2&1			Lee Westwood | Matthew Fitzpatrick
Patrick Cantlay | Xander Schauffele	5&3			Rory McIlory | Ian Poulter
• Fourballs (Fri)
Dustin Johnson | Xander Schauffele	2&1			Paul Casey | Bernd Wiesberger
Bryson DeChambeau | Scottie Scheffler		A|S		Jon Rahm | Tyrrell Hatton
Tony Finau | Harris English	4&3			Rory McIlroy | Shane Lowry
Justin Thomas | Patrick Cantlay		A|S		Tommy Fleetwood | Viktor Hovland
• Foursomes (Sat)
Brooks Koepka | Daniel Berger			3&1	Jon Rahm | Sergio Garcia
Dustin Johnson | Collin Morikawa	2&1			Paul Casey | Tyrrell Hatton
Justin Thomas | Jordan Spieth	2up			Viktor Hovland | Bernd Wiesberger
Xander Schauffele | Patrick Cantlay	2&1			Lee Westwood | Matthew Fitzpatrick
• Fourballs (Sat)
Tony Finau | Harris English			1up	Shane Lowry | Tyrrell Hatton
Brooks Koepka | Jordan Spieth			2&1	Jon Rahm | Sergio Garcia
Scottie Scheffler | Bryson DeChambeau	3&1			Tommy Fleetwood | Viktor Hovland
Dustin Johnson | Collin Morikawa	4&3			Ian Poulter | Rory McIlroy
• Singles (Sun)
Xander Schauffele			3&2	Rory McIlroy
Patrick Cantlay	4&2			Shane Lowry
Scottie Scheffler	4&3			Jon Rahm
Bryson DeChambeau	3&2			Sergio Garcia
Collin Morikawa		A|S		Viktor Hovland
Dustin Johnson	1up			Paul Casey
Brooks Koepka	2&1			Bernd Wiesberger
Tony Finau			3&2	Ian Poulter
Justin Thomas	4&3			Tyrrell Hatton
Harris English			1up	Lee Westwood
Jordan Spieth		A|S		Tommy Fleetwood
Daniel Berger	1up			Matthew Fitzpatrick

• Year	• Course				• Holder
1979	The Greenbrier, VA	Europe	11-17	United States	United States
1981	Walton Heath, England	Europe	9½-18½	United States	United States
1983	Palm Beach, FL	Europe	13½-14½	United States	United States
1985	The Belfry, England	Europe	16½-11½	United States	Europe
1987	Muirfield Village, OH	Europe	15-13	United States	Europe
1989	The Belfry, England	Europe	14-14	United States	Europe
1991	Kiawah Island, SC	Europe	13½-14½	United States	United States
1993	The Belfry, England	Europe	13-15	United States	United States
1995	Oak Hill, NY	Europe	14½-13½	United States	Europe
1997	Valderrama, Spain	Europe	14½-13½	United States	Europe
1999	Brookline, MA	Europe	13½-14½	United States	United States
2002	The Belfry, England	Europe	15½-12½	United States	Europe
2004	Oakland Hills, MI	Europe	18½-9½	United States	Europe
2006	K Club, Ireland	Europe	18½-9½	United States	Europe
2008	Valhalla, KY	Europe	11½-16½	United States	United States
2010	Celtic Manor, Wales	Europe	14½-13½	United States	Europe
2012	Medinah, IL	Europe	14½-13½	United States	Europe
2014	Gleneagles, Scotland	Europe	16½-11½	United States	Europe
2016	Hazeltine, MN	Europe	11-17	United States	United States
2018	Guyancourt, France	Europe	16½-11½	United States	Europe
2021	Haven, WI	Europe	9-19	United States	United States
	• MATCHES SINCE 1979	Europe	11-9	United States	(1 Tie)

Raducanu makes the grade in New York

EMMA RADUCANU sent shockwaves around the sporting world after making tennis history in a brilliant US Open women's singles final in New York.

The 18-year-old from Bromley in Kent beat fellow teenager, Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 6-4 6-3 to become the first ever qualifier to win a tennis major in the Open era.

Ranked 150 immediately prior to the event at Flushing Meadows in Queens, Raducanu came through three qualifying matches just to make it into the main draw. 

Once there, she also beat Stefanie Voegele, Zhang Shuai, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Shelby Rogers, Belinda Bencic, and Maria Sakkari - and, amazingly, throughout the whole of her campaign including in the qualifiers, did not drop a single set. 

For sure, this was easily the most remarkable British sports story of the year.

Unsurprisingly, in the first few games of the first set, there were nerves from both Grand Slam final debutants - and, after Raducanu held the opener, the two players traded breaks.

Raducanu nosed in front having gone 0-40 up - but eventually took the long way round to win the second game on the sixth break point after five deuces.

The advantage did not last for long - although game three was another topsy-turvy affair which went to three deuce points.

Fernandez took it on the fourth break point and then held serve for the first time to make it 2-2.

In the fifth game of the match, Raducanu looked in trouble again at 0-30 down but a forehand winner and three big serves dug her out of bother and seemed to settle her down.

By contrast, Fernandez was still struggling to get a first serve in and brought her double fault count up to four in the eighth game before finding a series of forehand winners to keep the match level at 4-4.

Ultimately, the difference came at the business end of the set. Raducanu held comfortably to-15 in the ninth game and then broke the Fernandez serve for a second time to win the set in the 10th.

At the start of the second set, Raducanu went for the kill, holding comfortably again before a series of unforced errors by Fernandez, including a fifth double fault, put her 0-40 down.

From there, though, the Canadian showed her quality to reel off five straight points to make it 1-1 - and, rather quickly, the momentum of the match had shifted again.

Suddenly, the North American crowd, already strongly backing Fernandez, found their voice in the stands which tower over Arthur Ashe Court.

Fernandez perhaps felt the shift and forced a break after a loose service game by Raducanu to lead 2-1.

However, the oldest saying in tennis is that a break is never truly sealed until it is subsequently held.

Instead, resilient Raducanu roared back straightaway with a pair of backhand winners to put the set back on serve at 2-2.

Then it got even better for the British player. Raducanu produced two service winners to move from 30-30 to a 3-2 lead - and then established a decisive lead with a second successive break in the sixth game.

By then, the brief surge by Fernandez had been completely suffocated by Raducanu - and three points in a row gave the qualifier a 15-40 lead and furnished her with another two break points.

Fernandez saved the first with a well-placed second serve but Raducanu converted the second chance with a wonderful forehand passing shot.

Glory was now within touching distance for Raducanu - and she soon made it 5-2 with a hold to-15 to transfer all the pressure back on Fernandez.

Serving to stay in match and tournament, Fernandez duly faced two match points - at 30-40 and during the course of another series of deuces.

The Canadian saved both of them and won the game with a brilliant forehand up the line - and then showed her tenacity by forcing a break point in the game in which Raducanu was serving for the title.

Worse still, the British player cut her leg sliding on the hard-court and a medical time-out was called for her to receive treatment.

Understandably, Fernandez was not too happy about it - but Raducanu was clearly bleeding from a cut just under her knee and needed to be patched up.

Thankfully, Raducanu was not seriously injured but this really was a battle to the finish.

After reaching deuce, Raducanu saved a break point then gained a third match point when Fernandez went long.

This time, on serve, Raducanu made no mistake, firing an ace wide of her Canadian opponent.

Raducanu had done it, becoming the first British female singles champion in a Grand Slam for 44 years since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in the Queen's Silver Jubilee year of 1977.

The Queen, coincidentally, had been watching and was among the first to congratulate Raducanu - but really this was prime-time Saturday night viewing for the population at large.

After all, there is, rather unmistakably, a certain girlish charm about Raducanu and her radiant smile would melt even the coldest of hearts.

When asked how she would celebrate her success, Raducanu smiled and replied: "Chocolate."

Then, there was also a particularly lovely moment on her sightseeing tour of New York when Raducanu spotted herself on a large electric billboard - not in a narcissistic way but somewhat still out of disbelief.

Perhaps one day soon, Raducanu will return from Cloud Nine - but, for now, she has more than earned a bit of time to enjoy the proceeds of all of her hard work.

Hard work which has come alongside the stresses faced by any teenager: on 4 January this year, Raducanu tweeted to wonder if her A-level exams would take place at all.

Now ranked at 23 in the tennis world, the Newstead Grammar School student needn't exactly have worried about her results.

For there can be no doubt that Raducanu passed this test with distinction.