UNITED STATES [19] | [9] EUROPEEUROPE 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) |
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