Europe won the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup, a biannual golf event which pits the best American and European players against each other, on Sunday near Rome. The Englishman Tommy Fleetwood offered the half point which allowed Europe to reach the score of 14.5 points, synonymous with victory, for a final success of 16.5 to 11.5.
As a result of the event created in 1927, the United States still largely leads with 27 victories against 15 (3 for Great Britain, 12 for Europe admitted since 1979) and two draws (1969, 1989), but the Americans conceded their seventh consecutive defeat on European soil where their last success dates back to 1993, thirty years of failures. They suffered on the Marco Simone Golf course during the first two days, but finished strongly on Sunday to come back to 14-11, before Fleetwood secured the European victory at hole N.16 by leading 2 up against Rickie Fowler.
The Americans weighed down by their start
The American awakening was therefore too late to end this drought and keep the trophy won in 2021 in Wisconsin. The Europeans, led during the three days of competition by the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, the Spaniard Jon Rahm and the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, inflicted a scathing 4-0 on Friday morning, unprecedented in the history of the Ryder Cup.
Trailing by five points after the first day (6.5 to 1.5), the Americans hit rock bottom on Saturday morning when world No.1 Scottie Scheffler ended up in tears, after his defeat alongside Brooks Koepka, against Hovland and the Swede Ludvig Aberg. The two young Scandinavians inflicted the heaviest defeat in the history of the event (9 & 7). It was not until the tenth game, Saturday morning, that the United States signed their first victory.
If they finished the second day better with three victories in the four afternoon games, the Americans were five points behind (10.5 to 5.5) on Saturday evening. The second day ended in a tense atmosphere after an incident on the green of hole N.18, then in a parking lot, between McIlroy and the caddy of the American Patrick Cantlay, accused of having provoked the public, then embarrassed the Northern Irishman before his putt. The next edition will take place in 2025 in the United States, in Farmingdale, near New York, before returning to Europe in 2027, in Limerick, Ireland.
