Europe won this cacophonous Ryder Cup in Rome, but only just. Fired up by clashes between the two teams on Saturday night, USA came out battling in yesterday's singles and almost pulled off a miracle at Marco Simone. Match after match turned red on the board but Europe held back the sea, and it was left to one of the most popular members of the team, Tommy Fleetwood, to finish the job in an understated moment on the 16th green.
That was match 11 of 12, showing just how deep America took the contest. “I didn’t want it to come down to one of us at the back,” Fleetwood said. “I’m so proud. I couldn’t wish for a better bunch of people to do with this. We are one gigantic family and the bonds you make last a lifetime.”
Shane Lowry’s tied match with Jordan Spieth was the final act on the 18th green, but by then the European party had already started and Lowry just wanted to join in. It finished 16½-11½, but that score did not tell the story of a nerve-wracking day. “At one stage it was looking dodgy,” Lowry admitted, “but I had faith in the boys to get it done.”
This Ryder Cup was a ferocious and often emotional three-day battle, which ended with tears on both sides, but it was really won on the first morning. The scores from Friday afternoon onwards were almost dead level, but that 4-0 whitewash in the opening foursomes gave USA an almost impossible hill to climb. The post-mortem will be revealing but it seemed like Europe were more united and better prepared, and it gave them a winning platform.
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin October 02, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Independent dergisinin October 02, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
England's extreme selection adds to changing Test tides
You may have missed it, but Test cricket is really fun at the moment.
Return to Galacticos model changes Real for the worse
Florentino Perez may have been keen to grandstand at Real Madrid’s general assembly on Sunday, but some of his stars have been more concerned with just standing still. Almost literally.
City squander three-goal lead as team self-destructs
At least it was not a sixth successive defeat.
ACCLAIMING NORA
As the reality of another four years of Trump begins to set in, Robert McCrum suggests Nora Ephron’s comforting world of witty prose and whirlwind romances can help us through
Disabled people are terrified of Starmer's welfare reforms
“People are just frightened. There is no sense that the state in Britain is going to support us if we get into trouble. In fact, it’s the opposite.
Trump will change his tune on tariffs once in power
According to Donald Trump, the most beautiful word in the dictionary” is tariff”.
We can't separate God from the assisted dying argument
As Friday’s Commons vote on assisted dying draws closer, the debate surrounding it, which has so far focused on issues about the terminally ill, pain, personal autonomy, the ethics of killing, and care, seems to have moved from respectful dialogue to becoming more fraught and personal.
Five rescued 24 hours after yacht capsized in Red Sea
Search continues for seven people, including two Britons
Pakistan authorities launch operation to clear Islamabad
Move follows clashes in the capital between police and supporters of Imran Khan which have left six people dead
World's oldest man dies at 112, 'surrounded by love'
John Tinniswood was born in 1912, the year the Titanic sank
