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)

Match postponed

TOP-LEVEL football in the UK will not return until 30 April at the earliest as the coronavirus pandemic continued to cause carnage to the sporting calendar this week.

All games in the Premier League and the Football League, and all fixtures in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, are currently postponed.

However, at the same meeting on Thursday, the Football Association agreed that the current season can be "extended indefinitely".

Liverpool fans - having seen their team build up a 25-point advantage in their search for a first league title for 30 years - can rest a little easier perhaps.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Euro 2020 was postponed by UEFA until the summer of 2021.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin announced the delay of exactly 12 months to avoid "placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services" in its 12 host countries.

Sensibly, the postponement will also provide a chance for European leagues that have been suspended to be completed when action eventually resumes.

For now, though, it is unclear when exactly that will be.

Only last week, the Premier League and the Football League suspended their respective programmes of fixtures until 4 April, after confirmed positive results for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi.

But the exponential increase in cases in the UK has already caused this further four-week delay to the resumption of the action.

The latest figures released by the Department of Health and Social Care show there have now been 3,983 positive cases of COVID-19 in the UK and 177 deaths from the virus.

Meanwhile, in terms of the numbers on a worldwide basis, there have been over 11,000 deaths from more than 270,000 positive cases.

In terms of declared fatalities, Italy - with 4,032 deaths - has now overtaken China (3,248 deaths), the place from which the strain is thought to have originated.

Back here in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a press conference on Monday in which he advised that everyone in the UK should avoid "non-essential" travel and contact with others.

Mass gatherings in places such as bars, restaurants, theatres and sports arenas should be avoided, he added - and, yesterday, these venues were ordered to close their doors completely.

Of course, much of the sporting world had already taken matters into their own hands - and the presence of the Italians in the Six Nations meant it was unavoidably among the first competitions to be affected.

At first, only matches involving the Azzurri against Ireland on 7 March and England on 14 March were postponed - but eventually all three of the games in the final round fell victim to the virus.

Elsewhere, the England cricket tour of Sri Lanka was abruptly ended midway through a warm-up match with captain Joe Root admitting to "an element of relief" that the decision had been made to bring the squad back home.

In the meantime, the season in Formula One has not yet even got off the start line.

The Chinese Grand Prix was postponed as far back as February - but it took until the very eve of the season opener in Australia for the race at Albert Park in Melbourne to be called off.

Even then, it was only hastily announced by motorsport governing body the FIA after McLaren had withdrawn from the Grand Prix following the return of a positive result for a team member's coronavirus test.

Delays to the races in Bahrain and Vietnam were also confirmed last week.

However, just this week, the Dutch and Spanish Grand Prix have also now been postponed - and the blue-ribbon event in Monaco has been cancelled completely.

Nevertheless, an already-congested calendar could still be bursting at the seams when - or, maybe at this stage, if - the campaign eventually gets going.

Eight Grand Prix need to be completed in order to constitute a Formula One season.

Unsurprisingly, the worldwide tennis and golf tours have been suspended with the French Open tennis at Rolland Garros moved, merely in hope at this stage, to the autumn.

And, although the Cheltenham Festival was somehow completed last week, the big Grand National meeting at Aintree at the start of April is off.

In terms of individual sports, snooker perhaps took longest to react to the developing crisis - and the Gibraltar Open still took place last week behind closed doors.

Yesterday, however, World Snooker bowed to the inevitable and announced a delay to Judd Trump's world title defence at the Crucible until July at the earliest.

Rather remarkably, the Tokyo-based 2020 Summer Olympics are still scheduled, for now, to go ahead from 24 July until 9 August.

"We will overcome the spread of the infection and host the Olympics without problem, as planned," Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said.

But, while the situation in Asia may have stabilised and even improved, Abe appears to be totally deluded if he thinks Tokyo 2020 will simply proceed without a hitch.

The Japanese reluctance to cancel or even merely delay the Games is understandable considering their outlay of around 1.35 trillion yen (£10.26bn).

Nevertheless, it is currently impossible to envisage anything except for the Olympics being added to the great sporting scrapheap of 2020.

Now, of course, football and sport carry no particular importance while the whole of the human race fronts up to a virulent pandemic. 

Legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly was sadly misguided when he famously declared that football was more important than life and death.

But, another great football man - former Italy and AC Milan head coach Arrigo Sacchi - was spot on with his assessment when he said: "Football is the most important of the least important things."

At the moment, it is much missed along with the other sporting events which allow otherwise inconsequential weeks to trundle into months, and months into years.

Worryingly, though, coronavirus is not going away any time soon - and, as the peak rapidly approaches, it is going to get worse far sooner than it gets better.

Stay safe, keep well everyone, and remember to wash your hands regularly.

Vincerò! Vincerò! Europe easily win the Ryder Cup

RYDER CUP 2018

FRANCESCO MOLINARI secured the winning point as Europe thrashed the United States to regain the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in Paris.

Resuming 10-6 up, Europe won the Singles session 7½-4½ to complete a comfortable home win.

It did not matter that the Americans could boast a total of 31 majors to the Europeans' eight - or that Europe were fielding five rookies.

In fact, each of the 12 Europe players made some contribution to the victory - none of them returned home without having won at least one of their matches.

Open champion Molinari was in particularly fine fettle, and he formed an unbreakable and unbeaten partnership with Tommy Fleetwood before a 4&2 win over Phil Mickelson in the Singles, which proved to be the tipping point.

Indeed, the Italian became the first ever European player to finish a Ryder Cup with a perfect record from five matches.

And only three Americans, Gardner Dickinson, Arnold Palmer and Larry Nelson, had achieved the feat previously - although Ian Poulter did win four out of four during the Miracle of Medinah in 2012.

Europe captain Thomas Bjørn had opted for experience in his wildcard picks - and his selection of Sergio Garcia was an especially inspired choice.

The Spaniard had endured a tough year off the tee - but won two of his three matches in fourballs and foursomes before beating Rickie Fowler 2&1 in the Singles.

Garcia's career total in the Ryder Cup now stands at 25½ points - which is more than any other player in history.

By contrast, the American wildcard picks, with the honourable exception of Tony Finau, were utterly dreadful.

Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau lost all nine matches in which they were involved - and so Mickelson and Woods respectively completed their fifth and sixth Ryder Cup campaigns in Europe without a single victory.

It still remains the case then that the United States last won the trophy in an away contest back in 1993, the year President Bill Clinton was first inaugurated.

And the wait will now gone on until 2022 when the teams meet at the Marco Simone Club in Rome. 

Yet, after the first session of fourballs on Friday, it had all looked so good for the United States.

Led by world number one Dustin Johnson and his partner Fowler - who beat Rory McIlroy and Thorbjørn Olesen 4&2 - the Americans picked up each of the first three points on offer.

Europe only avoided the whitewash as Molinari and Fleetwood gave a first sign of what was to come with a 3&1 beating of Woods and Patrick Reed.

Still, at that point, there were few signs of what was to come in the Friday afternoon foursomes.

For, what transpired was a first whitewash by Europe of the United States in a session for 29 years.

Molinari and Fleetwood - by this time dubbed MoliWood - led the charge with a 5&4 victory over Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, and that margin was also enjoyed by Garcia and Alex Norén over Mickelson and DeChambeau.

Meanwhile, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson beat Johnson and Fowler 3&2, and McIlroy and Poulter recovered from losing two of the first three holes to beat Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson.

The Americans then had much to ponder heading into the Saturday morning fourballs - but, once again, Europe dominated proceedings, taking each of the first three matches.

Garcia and McIlroy beat Brooks Koepka and Finau 2&1, Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton (3&2) beat Johnson and Fowler while Molinari and Fleetwood (4&3) were at it again against Woods and Reed.

Remarkably, Europe had won eight matches in a row to go from 3-0 down to 8-3 up. It was a blue wave which simply suffocated the Americans. 

In the end, the visitors were thankful that it did not get any worse as Thomas and Spieth held out  against Poulter and Jon Rahm to reduce the arrears to 8-4 heading into the afternoon foursomes.

The handsome lead allowed Europe to be satisfied with a split session - which is exactly what happened.

Molinari and Fleetwood (5&4) beat DeChambeau and, yet again, Woods - while Rose and Stenson (3&2) had too much Johnson and Koepka.

The 10-6 overnight score left the United States firmly in Medinah territory and left the Americans with no choice other than to put their best hopes at the top of the order in the Singles.

In fairness to American captain Jim Furyk, it was one of the few things which worked for him this weekend as the United States took three-and-a-half points from the first four completed matches.

Suddenly, Europe's advantage had been reduced to a single point and things were beginning to feel just a little bit twitchy.

But Bjørn's men had plenty in reserve down the order. Indeed, each of the next six completed matches went in the Europeans' favour as Olsen (5&4), Rahm (2&1), and Poulter (2up) beat Spieth, Woods and Johnson to put Europe on the brink.

Actually, at this point, Stenson, Garcia and Molinari all had dormie leads, thus guaranteeing a Europe win.

It was only a matter of time and a matter of which of those three players would hole the winning putt.

Somewhat bizarrely, it ended up being none of them as Mickelson summed up his entire tournament by conceding his match against Molinari on the par-three 16th after finding the water off the tee.

Stenson (5&4) and Garcia also completed their victories to make it 16½-9½ and Europe would ultimately better the Americans' score at Hazeltine two years ago when Norén won 1up against DeChambeau in a battle of the rookies.

Reed had, in the meantime, pushed the United States score into double figures but the crowds in Paris greeted his classless shushing celebration following his meaningless 3&2 win over Hatton with the derision which it deserved.

It has already emerged in the latest American fallout that Spieth refused to play alongside Reed - but it is difficult really to put too much blame on Spieth for that.

At least Reed has conceded that the European camaraderie - which extended, off the course, to a WhatsApp group - was better than that of the Americans.

Importantly, Europe's spirit gave Bjørn plenty of options when mixing and matching his pairs - though he also quickly realised Molinari and Fleetwood had struck up such a good partnership that they had become inseparable.

But, if there was a star of the European team, it was 35-year-old Open champion Molinari - and so he can provide the closing words of this write-up.

"So much more than majors, more than anything," Molinari said when asked what the winning moment meant.

And that, in just a few words, is why the Ryder Cup is the greatest golf tournament in the world.

FULL RESULTS

	EUROPE	17½		10½	UNITED STATES
Fourballs (Fri)	Justin Rose Jon Rahm			1up	Brooks Koepka Tony Finau
	Rory McIlroy Thorbjørn Olesen			4&2	Dustin Johnson Rickie Fowler
	Paul Casey Tyrrell Hatton			1up	Jordan Spieth Justin Thomas
	Francesco Molinari Tommy Fleetwood	3&1			Patrick Reed Tiger Woods
Foursomes (Fri)	Henrik Stenson Justin Rose	3&2			Dustin Johnson Rickie Fowler
	Ian Poulter Rory McIlroy	4&2			Bubba Watson Webb Simpson
	Sergio Garcia Alex Norén	5&4			Phil Mickelson  Bryson DeChambeau
	Francesco Molinari Tommy Fleetwood	5&4			Justin Thomas Jordan Spieth
Fourballs (Sat)	Sergio Garcia Rory McIlory	2&1			Brooks Koepka Tony Finau
	Paul Casey Tyrrell Hatton	3&2			Dustin Johnson Rickie Fowler
	Francesco Molinari Tommy Fleetwood	4&3			Patrick Reed Tiger Woods
	Ian Poulter Jon Rahm			2&1	Justin Thomas Jordan Spieth
Foursomes (Sat)	Henrik Stenson Justin Rose	2&1			Brooks Koepka Tony Finau
	Sergio Garcia Alex Norén			3&2	Dustin Johnson Rickie Fowler
	Francesco Molinari Tommy Fleetwood	5&4			Patrick Reed Tiger Woods
	Ian Poulter Rory McIlroy			4&3	Justin Thomas Jordan Spieth
Singles (Sun)	Rory McIlroy			1up	Justin Thomas
	Paul Casey		A/S		Brooks Koepka
	Justin Rose			3&2	Webb Simpson
	Jon Rahm	2&1			Tiger Woods
	Tommy Fleetwood			6&4	Tony Finau
	Ian Poulter	2up			Dustin Johnson
	Thorbjørn Olesen	5&4			Jordan Spieth
	Sergio Garcia	2&1			Rickie Fowler
	Francesco Molinari	4&2			Phil Mickelson
	Tyrrell Hatton			3&2	Patrick Reed
	Henrik Stenson	5&4			Bubba Watson
	Alex Norén	1up			Bryson DeChambeau

Wildcard Tiger leads Americans on Ryder Cup prowl

TIGER WOODS could be set to cap a remarkable sporting comeback by helping the United States retain the Ryder Cup this weekend.

Just last week, Woods won his first tournament in over five years in the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.
 
And, in doing so, the 42-year-old Californian defied critics who doubted he would ever compete at the top level again.

After all, Woods has endured a difficult decade to say the least - although some of his problems have been of his own making.

In 2008, Woods won the last of his major title to date at the US Open - but, in November of the following year, he was involved in a bizarre car crash into a fire hydrant outside his Orlando home.

The incident sparked accusations of extramarital affairs which he subsequently admitted - which, in turn, led to the end of his seven-year marriage to Swedish model Elin Nordegren.

Woods unsurprisingly lost lucrative sponsors in the wake of the affair and then he also lost form as chronic back pain caused him to have four separate operations in four years.

In May 2017, he was arrested after officers found him slumped at the wheel of his parked Mercedes-Benz not far from his Florida home - but Woods insisted that alcohol was not a factor.

Toxicology reports confirmed he was telling the truth - and, instead, he claimed his disorientated condition was caused by an unexpected reaction to the medications he was taking.

Woods, in truth, was still a sorry sight - at 1,199 in the world after spinal fusion surgery, his career as professional golfer looked well and truly over.

But now, in almost fairytale fashion, he is back - and ready to help the United States to a rare Ryder Cup away win.

Of course, the Ryder Cup set-up is far more about a team performance as a whole, rather than the outstanding input of any individual, something which Europe's Rory McIlroy was at pains to point out on Wednesday.

Moreover, Woods has not even got that good a record in his previous seven appearances, with 13 wins, 17 losses and three halves.

Indeed, the weight of recent history hangs heavily over all of the Americans despite them heading into this contest as the holders.

Europe have won each of the last five matches at home, last losing at the Belfry back in 1993 - and, in fact, they have won eight of the past 11 contests overall.

However, that 17-11 defeat two years ago at the Hazeltine in Minnesota was the United States' biggest win since 1981 - and half of the same players are back again for the visitors.

Additionally, there are only three Ryder Cup rookies for the Americans, and two of them - Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau - were the selections of captain Jim Furyk.

By contrast, the European team features no fewer than five rookies, following on from six players in blue having made their debut just two years ago. 

It was perhaps no surprise then that Europe captain Thomas Bjørn opted for experience in his four wildcard picks, though the Americans too have called upon Woods and 48-year-old Phil Mickelson.

Woods and Mickelson have 19 majors between them - but, even discounting them, the American players still otherwise have a combined total of 12 compared to eight from the whole of the European team. 

Nevertheless, matters are rarely all that simple at the Ryder Cup. Woods and Mickelson, equally, have lost every away Ryder Cup they have played - four and five tournaments respectively.

Meanwhile, in four-time major winner McIlroy and recent world number one Justin Rose, Europe undoubtedly possess a lot of talent of their own. 

But, rather, it is the depth of the European team which provides the concern.

At least the European players have had more experience of playing at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines just outside of Paris.

This is the first time in history that the Ryder Cup has been played in France but the venue has been a regular stop-off on the European tour since it opened 28 years ago.

"It's a definite advantage for us, I think," wildcard Paul Casey said today. "Our team certainly knows the course better than the Americans, and I think it suits my game very, very well.

"I drive the ball very well, and it's a ball striker's golf course. The fairway is not overly generous, and the rough is very penal."

Nevertheless, it would be a big shock if the Americans struggled to adapt to the conditions throughout the whole of the weekend.

On that basis then, it is absolutely vital that Europe get off to a good start in the morning session of fourballs which begin tomorrow at 07:10am BST.

Unsurprisingly, Rose and McIlroy feature in the top two matches with Rose paired alongside Spaniard Jon Rahm and McIlroy with Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen.

The pairs will face Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, and Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler, respectively - before Jordan Spieth takes to the tee alongside debutant Justin Thomas.

Spieth and Thomas face Casey and Tyrrell Hatton ahead of Woods who will come up against Open champion Francesco Molinari.

The Italian will be joined by Tommy Fleetwood while Texan Patrick Reed has been paired with Woods.

On the afternoon, the captains will name four further pairs for a series of alternate shot (foursomes) matches, and that morning and afternoon sequence is repeated on Saturday for a total of 16 points on offer.

The final 12 matches are played on Sunday as Singles - and all 28 points are contested on a matchplay format which can allow for slow starts but which is unforgiving to nervy finishes amid the tension.

Simply put, the format ensures that there is no other golf tournament like the Ryder Cup for drama.

But, while Europe will surely make it a closer contest than last time, it is no surprise to see the United States begin this 42nd edition as slightly odds-on favourites.

TEAMS

EUROPE		Age	WR	Majors	Ryder Cup record	Qualification
Tommy Fleetwood	(ENG)	27	12	None	Rookie	4th, European points list
Tyrrell Hatton	(ENG)	26	26	None	Rookie	3rd, European points list
Rory McIlroy	(NIR)	29	6	4	P19 W9 H4 L6	4th, World points list
Francesco Molinari	(ITA)	35	5	1	P6 W0 H2 L4	1st, European points list
Alex Norén	(SWE)	36	18	None	Rookie	7th, World points list
Thorbjørn Olesen	(DEN)	28	45	None	Rookie	8th, World points list
Jon Rahm	(ESP)	23	8	None	Rookie	3rd, World points list
Justin Rose	(ENG)	38	2	1	P19 W11 H2 L6	2nd, European points list
Paul Casey	(ENG)	41	21	None	P9 W3 H4 L2	Wildcard selection
Sergio García	(ESP)	38	28	1	P37 W19 H7 L11	Wildcard selection
Ian Poulter	(ENG)	42	34	None	P18 W12 H2 L4	Wildcard selection
Henrik Stenson	(SWE)	42	24	1	P16 W7 H2 L7	Wildcard selection
Thomas Bjørn	(DEN)	47				Non-playing captain

UNITED STATES		Age	WR	Majors	Ryder Cup record	Qualification
Rickie Fowler	(CA)	29	9	None	P11 W2 H5 L4	7th in points list
Dustin Johnson	(SC)	34	1	1	P11 W6 H0 L5	2nd in points list
Brooks Koepka	(FL)	28	3	3	P4 W3 H0 L1	1st in points list
Patrick Reed	(TX)	28	15	1	P9 W6 H2 L1	4th in points list
Webb Simpson	(NC)	33	16	1	P6 W2 H1 L3	8th in points list
Jordan Spieth	(TX)	25	10	3	P9 W4 H2 L3	6th in points list
Justin Thomas	(KY)	25	4	1	Rookie	3rd in points list
Bubba Watson	(FL)	39	14	2	P11 W3 H0 L8	5th in points list
Bryson DeChambeau	(CA)	25	7	None	Rookie	Wildcard selection
Phil Mickelson	(CA)	48	25	5	P45 W18 H7 L20	Wildcard selection
Tiger Woods	(CA)	42	13	14	P33 W13 H3 L17	Wildcard selection
Tony Finau	(UT)	29	17	None	Rookie	Wildcard selection
Jim Furyk	(PA)	48				Non-playing captain

COURSE

Le Golf National, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France (Par 71, 7331 yards)

Hole	Yards	Par			Hole	Yards	Par
1	416	4			10	383	4
2	213	3			11	191	3
3	563	5			12	443	4
4	487	4			13	427	4
5	405	4			14	607	5
6	383	4			15	399	4
7	481	4			16	175	3
8	208	3			17	484	4
9	596	5			18	470	4
OUT	3752	36			IN	3579	35

RECENT HISTORY

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
	MATCHES SINCE 1979	Europe	10-8	United States	(1 Tie)

Americans end their Ryder Cup pain

2016 RYDER CUP FINAL SCORE

UNITED STATES

17-11

EUROPE

UNITED STATES recorded their first Ryder Cup win since 2008, and only their second since the turn of the millennium, with a 17-11 thrashing of Europe at the Hazeltine Golf Club in Minnesota.

Rookie Ryan Moore hit the winning stroke as the Americans ended their drought with their biggest win in the competition since 1981.

Naturally, the run-up to the weekend had focused on the Americans' lack of recent success and it was even suggested that this was a contest which they simply could not afford to lose for the sake of the long-term future of the tournament. 

In actual fact, though, there was no need to worry. Indeed, the feeling of the Americans' being on top pervaded the event even before it began.

Europe chose to field six rookies, a record for a visiting team - while the United States were far better prepared having set up a task force to identify the issues behind their poor performances.

American captain Davis Love III also had experience in that he had engaged in the same role before - even if that had been the epic home collapse at Medinah in 2012. In fairness, even then, his team had played the better golf over the first two days.

Then there were a couple of other little signs to suggest that this was not going to go so well for the Europeans.

Justin Rose had to pay a heckler $100 after the crowd member successfully holed a putt which Rory McIlroy had missed in practice. 

Meanwhile, Danny Willett was forced to apologise for an outburst by his brother Peter on Twitter in which he referred to American golf fans as a "braying mob of imbeciles".

The Masters champion was subsequently left out of the opening foursomes pairs on Friday, and his form seemed affected by the furore across the whole weekend.

As it happened, Willett probably could not have done any worse in those foursomes which finished 4-0 to the United States. It was the first time in 41 years that the Americans had swept the opening session.

Youngsters Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth enjoyed a flagship victory over Rose and Swede Henrik Stenson in the first match while Rickie Fowler scored his first Ryder Cup victory at the ninth attempt alongside Phil Mickelson.

Furthermore, Fowler and Mickelson defeated Europe's biggest fish McIlroy and Andy Sullivan in a match which the holders had led from early on.

And the Europeans were simply blown away in the bottom two matches.

Thankfully, in the afternoon fourballs, there was a response from Europe as Rio 2016 gold and silver medallists Rose and Stenson, paired again together, got revenge on Reed and Spieth in a dominant 5&4 win.

Spanish pairing Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera-Bello also dominated their match against JB Holmes and Moore to win 3&2.

And, though Martin Kaymer and Willett were hammered by Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka, McIlroy and Thomas Pieters ensured Europe would come out on top in terms of the session at least.

The Northern Irishman and the Belgian combined ranks to defeat Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar 3&2, and thus began a successful pairing which was repeated in both sessions on Saturday.

McIlroy and Pieters won both of their points on Saturday to make it three out of three as Europe continued to wipe out their deficit.

Rose joined forces with debutant Chris Wood to win 1up in the third match of the morning foursomes.

Then the Spaniards Garcia and Cabrera-Bello somehow managed to halve a match having been four down in 11 holes.

The Americans' sole success was through their handy partnership of Snedeker and Koepka who defeated Stenson and Matthew Fitzpatrick 3&2.

But the 2½-1½ session for Europe meant the United States' overall lead was down to one point. Was it time for the hosts to panic?

Perhaps it was - especially as Europe restored parity on the afternoon when McIlroy and Pieters sealed a 3&1 win on the 17th against Koepka and Dustin Johnson.

After that, though, it all went wrong again for Europe. Mickelson and Kuchar always looked to have enough against Kaymer and Garcia before, in the third match of their trilogy, Reed and Spieth saw off Rose and Stenson in a tight match 2&1.

However, the big result of the session saw Holmes and Moore beat Willett and Lee Westwood 1up with Westwood missing vital putts to lose the 17th hole and halve the 18th hole.

Even a 9-7 deficit would have given Europe some serious hope going into the Sunday singles. As it was, a 9½-6½ overnight score left the holders with the proverbial mountain to climb.

Of course, in the run-up to the final day, there were countless mentions of Medinah - but Love, back then, had made the costly error of holding back his stronger and more in-form players in anticipation of a big finish.

Instead what happened was a weak top order was blown away by Europe - and then the bottom order could not cope with the pressure. Love was certainly not going to make that same mistake again.

For European captain Darren Clarke, the Sunday decisions were also simplified. Just like four years ago, early points were required in the hope of causing a collapse. McIlroy, Stenson, Pieters and Rose were a clear top four.

It did not quite work out, however. Reed inflicted upon McIlroy his first defeat in Ryder Cup singles, holding his nerve to win 1up following a titanic battle.

And, though Stenson and Pieters both won - and Cabrera-Bello convincingly beat Walker to close the gap to 10½-9½, that was always as good as it was ever going to get for Europe.

An oddly out-of-sorts Rose surprisingly went down to Fowler after the latter made a vital birdie on the par-five 16 before Koepka completed a fine Ryder Cup debut with a 5&4 thrashing of Danny Willett.

Next finished Mickelson and Garcia having halved a super quality match in which they both finished nine-under for the round, having shot a best ball score of 58. Certainly, neither player deserved to lose.

Unfortunately, though, the Europeans in the lower order were not competing anywhere near as well.

Snedeker and the two Johnsons all held leads at the turn for the back nine against a trio of rookies - Sullivan, Wood and Fitzpatrick - and none of them was relinquished.

German Kaymer grabbed a consolation point, overturning an early three-hole deficit to beat Kuchar - but, by then, it was already too late. The Americans had already won.

The tipping point came just after 10pm BST as 43-year-old wildcard Westwood, incredibly, fell apart again.

Moore, from two down, won the last three holes for a 1up victory in a match which will surely also be Westwood's last Ryder Cup appearance as a playing member.

A fine servant to European golf in the Ryder Cup has he been over the years but this weekend also reminded us why, in 23 years as professional, he has never won a major.

Skipper Clarke, undoubtedly, must share some of the blame in having taken the easy option to pick one of his closest friends on the circuit.

It was not his only mistake. His other older wildcard pick, Kaymer - though one of only four European winners in the singles - also badly struggled on the first two days while Clarke's support team was also thought to be a cosy cartel of his closest mates.

Not that the weekend was without any positivity for Europe. Pieters, with four points, and Cabrera-Bello, with two-and-a-half, made outstanding first appearances in the competition.

But there was a distinct lack of depth in the Europe team which was exposed brutally on the final day.

The Americans, of course, played superbly and, at times, it felt as if they were barely missing any putts at all.

And, coming in the week that the legendary Arnold Palmer died, it was understandable that many could not easily contain their emotion in the closing ceremony.

So, has the tide of Ryder Cup history turned once again in the Americans' favour? At this stage it is far too early to say.

After all, the United States' last victory in Europe came way back in 1993 at the Belfry so it must surely be their next aim to win away without such partisan support.

Europe still has a fine recent record of which to be proud - but, after this chastening weekend, must look to the next generation.

The 42nd edition of the Ryder Cup will take place in Paris, France for the first time on 28-30 September 2018.

RYDER CUP SCOREBOARD

UNITED STATES

17-11

EUROPE

Singles (Sunday)

United States	7½-4½	Europe
Patrick Reed	won 1up	Rory McIlroy
Jordan Spieth	won 3&2	Henrik Stenson
JB Holmes	won 3&2	Thomas Pieters
Rickie Fowler	won 1up	Justin Rose
Jimmy Walker	won 3&2	Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Phil Mickelson	halved	Sergio Garcia
Ryan Moore	won 1up	Lee Westwood
Brandt Snedeker	won 3&1	Andy Sullivan
Dustin Johnson	won 1up	Chris Wood
Brooks Koepka	won 5&4	Danny Willett
Matt Kuchar	won 1up	Martin Kaymer
Zach Johnson	won 4&3	Matthew Fitzpatrick

EARLIER RESULTS
Foursomes (Friday)

United States	4-0	Europe
Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed	won 3&2	Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson
Phil Mickelson/Rickie Fowler	won 1up	Rory McIlroy/Andy Sullivan
Jimmy Walker/Zach Johnson	won 4&2	Sergio Garcia/Martin Kaymer
Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar	won 5&4	Lee Westwood/Thomas Pieters

Fourballs (Friday)

United States	1-3	Europe
Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed	won 5&4	Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson
JB Holmes/Ryan Moore	won 3&2	Sergio Garcia/Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Brandt Snedeker/Brooks Koepka	won 5&4	Martin Kaymer/Danny Willett
Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar	won 3&2	Rory McIlroy/Thomas Pieters

Foursomes (Saturday)

United States	1½-2½	Europe
Phil Mickelson/Rickie Fowler	won 4&2	Rory McIlroy/Thomas Pieters
Brandt Snedeker/Brooks Koepka	won 3&2	Henrik Stenson/Matthew Fitzpatrick
Jimmy Walker/Zach Johnson	won 1up	Justin Rose/Chris Wood
Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed	halved	Sergio Garcia/Rafa Cabrera-Bello

Fourballs (Saturday)

United States	3-1	Europe
Dustin Johnson/Brooks Koepka	won 3&1	Rory McIlroy/Thomas Pieters
JB Holmes/Ryan Moore	won 1up	Danny Willett/Lee Westwood
Phil Mickelson/Matt Kuchar	won 2&1	Martin Kaymer/Sergio Garcia
Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed	won 2&1	Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson

All statistics below were correct at the start of the 2016 Ryder Cup

THE TEAMS

UNITED STATES (Captain: Davis Love III, Vice-captains: Tom Lehman, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson)

	Age	Points rank (World)	Ryder Cup record (W-L-H)	World ranking	Majors
Dustin Johnson	32	1	4-3-0	2	1
Jordan Speith	23	2	2-1-1	4	2
Phil Mickelson	46	3	16-19-6	15	5
Patrick Reed	26	4	3-0-1	8	0
Jimmy Walker	37	5	1-1-3	16	1
Brooks Koepka	26	6	Rookie	22	0
Brandt Snedeker	35	7	1-2-0	23	0
Zach Johnson	40	8	6-6-2	28	2
*JB Holmes	34	10	2-0-1	21	0
*Rickie Fowler	27	11	0-3-5	9	0
*Matt Kuchar	38	12	4-5-2	17	0
*Ryan Moore	33	20	Rookie	31	0

(*captain's wildcard selection)

EUROPE (Captain: Darren Clarke (NIR), Vice-captains: Thomas Bjørn (DEN), Pádraig P. Harrington (IRE), Paul Lawrie (SCO), Ian Poulter (ENG), Sam Torrance (SCO))

	Age	Points  (Euro)	Points  (World)	Ryder Cup  record (W-L-H)	World ranking	Majors
Rory McIlroy (NIR)	27	1	2	6-4-4	3	4
Danny Willett (ENG)	28	2	3	Rookie	10	1
Henrik Stenson (SWE)	40	3	1	5-4-2	5	1
Chris Wood (ENG)	28	4	7	Rookie	32	0
Sergio Garcia (ESP)	36	17	4	18-9-5	12	0
Rafa Cabrera-Bello (ESP)	32	7	5	Rookie	30	0
Justin Rose (ENG)	36	26	6	9-3-2	11	1
Andy Sullivan (ENG)	29	5	8	Rookie	50	0
Matt Fitzpatrick (ENG)	22	6	9	Rookie	44	0
*Thomas Pieters (BEL)	24	9	11	Rookie	46	0
*Martin Kaymer (GER)	31	11	13	4-3-3	48	2
*Lee Westwood (ENG)	43	15	14	20-15-6	42	0

(*= captain's wildcard selection)

THE COURSE

Hazeltine National Golf Club, Minnesota, USA (Par 72, 7628 yards)

Hole	Yards	Par			Hole	Yards	Par
1	442	4			10	452	4
2	429	4			11	606	5
3	633	5			12	518	4
4	210	3			13	248	3
5	352	4			14	448	4
6	642	5			15	405	4
7	402	4			16	572	5
8	186	3			17	176	3
9	475	4			18	432	4
OUT	3,771	36			IN	3,857	36

RYDER CUP HISTORY SINCE 1979

UNITED STATES v EUROPE

Matches 18
Europe 10

United States 7 

Tied 1

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

*Originally scheduled for 2001 but delayed for a year following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Subsequent tournaments have been played on even-numbered years.