Ryder Cup News: Europe reclaim cup with epic Rome success

They were made to sweat at times, but Europe secured the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on Sunday, two years after they were humbled by the United States at Whistling Straits, with a 16.5-11.5 victory.

Tommy Fleetwood secured the crucial point in Sunday’s singles with a win over Rickie Fowler as the Americans were unable to claw back a five-point deficit on the final day and Europe rewarded the punters who backed them at evens to replicate the win they posted at Le Golf National in 2019.

They will meet again at Bethpage Black in New York in 2025 and Europe are 7-4 with Paddy Power to win again. The USA are 8-11 with the firm while the tie is 10-1.

Europe headed into the final day with a 10.5-5.5 lead, so Luke Donald’s team needed just four points from the 12 singles matches to regain the cup, but it was far from easy and there were plenty of nervy moments.

Donald sent out his big guns early to get the job done and FedEx Cup winner Viktor Hovland was one of the first to claim a point when he saw off Collin Morikawa 4&3 in the second match, while they gained a key half from the titanic battle between Jon Rahm and world number one Scottie Scheffler.

Europe’s oldest player Justin Rose battled but could not see his way past Patrick Cantlay, who had become the pantomime villain for the Rome crowd, but then Europe took a commanding position when Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton, who contributed 7.5 points between them over the three days, claimed their victories against Sam Burns and Open champion Brian Harman.

McIlroy did the business for punters who backed him at 8-1 to be the competition’s top points scorer, and the home side were sat on 14 points for a while, needing that crucial half-point to ensure the Americans could not force a tie and take the Ryder Cup back across the Atlantic by retaining the trophy.

Brooks Koepka, the only player from the breakaway LIV Tour taking part, won his match as did Max Homa, who beat Matt Fitzpatrick to reward Racing Post golf expert Steve Palmer’s followers with a 10-1 winner as the top American scorer as he posted 3.5 points on his Ryder Cup debut.

And then nerves began jangling as Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas claimed points to cut the lead to 14-11, but eventually the Americans found it too high a mountain to scale as Fleetwood and Shane Lowry soon got into dormie situations in quick succession.

Attention will now turn to Bethpage Black, New York where the next instalment will be played out in September 2025.

The States has not been a happy hunting ground for Europe recently, with a record 19-9 defeat coming at Wisconsin under Padraig Harrington’s guidance in 2021, following a 17-11 loss at Hazeltine under Darren Clarke five years earlier.

After inspiring his team to victory, McIlroy is 25-1 to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year with bet365, while Fleetwood and Fitzpatrick are 50-1. Retired England bowler Stuart Broad is 7-4 favourite.

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