The Slaughter by the Water, The Whipping in Wisconsin, or The Mauling by Lake Michigan – whatever epithet ends up being ascribed to the 43rd Ryder Cup, the bare fact of the matter is that Europe suffered its heaviest ever defeat in the near 100-year history of the matches at the hands of a powerful, and, for once, impressively united Team USA.
After dominating the opening two days of foursomes and fourballs at a windy Whistling Straits, with sessions of 3-1, 3-1, 3-1 and 2-2, the all-conquering host nation duly completed the somewhat inevitable rout with a comprehensive 8-4 win in Sunday’s singles matches, all of which added up to a 19-9 demolition that will surely send aftershocks through the foundations of European golf for a while to come.
It was somewhat fitting that it was reigning Open champion Collin Morikawa, the hero of the links at St George’s, who delivered the coup de grace when claiming a half point in his match against Victor Hovland to take his team to the 14½ points they needed to regain the cup. That it was achieved inside the first five matches further underlined America’s utter dominance, rendering the other seven games still out on the course instantly irrelevant as the 40,000 home fans went wild with delight.
Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter – Europe’s only winners in the singles – were in all in tears as they showed the emotion of what will be a chastening, if not wholly unexpected, defeat.
Big wins for Patrick Cantlay (4&2), Scottie Scheffler (4&3) and Bryson DeChambeau (3&2) in matches 2, 3 and 4 versus Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia respectively, laid the groundwork for Sunday’s early celebrations, while Dustin Johnson became the first American to win five points since 1979 when he wrapped up a 1up win over Paul Casey in the sixth match.
Justin Thomas crushed Tyrrell Hatton 4&3, Koepka saw off Bernd Wiesberger 2&1 and Daniel Berger beat Matt Fitzpatrick on the last as the US won seven of the singles matches to complete the lop-sided scoreline.
“This is a special day for everyone here involved,” said US captain Steve Stricker, who, although credited with masterminding the win, could quite easily have watched it all on TV from the comfort of his sofa at home and still witnessed the same result. “The Ryder Cup means a lot to everybody, and we finally put in a dominant performance. This is a new era right here. This group of players are young, motivated, they came here determined to win. I never won a major, but this is my major now.”
European captain Padraig Harrington, who has three majors to his name, but sadly no Ryder Cup captain’s win, conceded: “It’s a tough loss, but they were simply the better team this week. They were a strong team and they played right up to their very best form. They had momentum the whole time, holed putts at the right time, and had the crowd right behind them. It all added up to a strong US performance.”
Asked whether this might signal an era of American dominance, Harrington said: “There’s no doubt that the current crop of American players are strong, but there are young guys in this European team too that will be the heart of the team going forward. Jon Rahm, clearly; Viktor Hovland, these are young guys that will be there for a long time. Everybody keeps going on about the experienced guys, but there is a solid heart to this team of players who are still coming into the peak of their careers and will be here for a few more years yet. Yes, we would look to see some young guys coming through in the future, but we have some solid strength going forward.”
Having lost seven of the previous nine Ryder Cups, USA have now won successive matches on home soil for the first time in 38 years, and with this current set of players averaging just 29, look set to represent a formidable force in many Ryder Cups to come. The 44th Ryder Cup is being held at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Italy in 2023, which will mark 30 years since the US last won an away match. Get ready for ‘The Rumble in Rome’.
For all the scores from the 43rd Ryder Cup, click here.