It is a fine line between revenge and redemption, but Team Europe enjoyed both during the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club on the outskirts of Rome, Italy, on Sept. 29–Oct. 1.
European Captain Luke Donald insisted his team’s emphatic 16½–11½ victory over the U.S. in the 44th Ryder Cup was not revenge, but simply sweet redemption after the Europeans extended their winning streak on home soil to 30 years. The U.S. squad traveled to Rome with unbridled hope and momentum after pinning a 19-9 drubbing on Team Europe two years prior at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. But the Americans found an ambush reminiscent of the Roman gladiators vs. untrained opponents in the shadow of Rome’s famed Colosseum.
The 2023 victory was Europe’s seventh straight at home and seventh in the past 10 Ryder Cups, while the U.S. Team wrote a new chapter in futility despite mounting a modest comeback after facing a 10½–5½ deficit entering the 12 Sunday singles matches. The last time the U.S. lifted the Ryder Cup on the road was 1993 at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, England.
Donald, who will captain Team Europe again at Bethpage Black, played down the revenge theme after his team bolted to an insurmountable 6½–1½ lead after the first day in 2023 and never looked back.
“We had 12 legends, 12 gladiators united under a common cause this week,” noted Donald after the European squad weathered a rally from the U.S. during Sunday’s singles to cruise to victory. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy after what transpired at Whistling Straits. It wasn’t really revenge, but just redemption. We wanted to show that Europe is just as capable of playing great golf as the United States.”
The Euros, a talented mix of players from eight different countries, didn’t allow the Americans to win a match on the first day for the first time since the Ryder Cup began in 1927, and never looked back.
Team Europe’s Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm combined for 10½ points with a 9-2-3 combined record to nearly beat the U.S. on their own, while England’s Tyrrell Hatton (3-0-1) and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (2-0-1) were also undefeated for the week. In contrast, the top three Americans in the World Golf Rankings – Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele — earned four points with a combined 3-7-2 record.
“It would be nice to start the week over and get off to a better start,” said U.S. Team Captain Zach Johnson. “. . . When you look at it objectively, it’s nothing more than Europe playing better, making more putts and scoring more points.”
No Team Europe member was more devasted than McIlroy following the U.S.’s drubbing of Europe at Whistling Straits. He tearfully apologized to his teammates for not playing better and relished the opportunity to turn the tables in 2023. McIlroy was a vocal leader at Marco Simone, rolling to a 4-1-0 record and continually rallying his teammates.
“I was extremely disappointed in myself and how I played at Whistling Straits, and I promised myself and my teammates that I would play better the next time around,” McIlroy said during Europe’s victory celebration.
The 2023 Ryder Cup and Team Europe paid tribute to the late Seve Ballesteros, the swashbuckling Spaniard who led Europe to five wins as a player and captain, while compiling a 20-12-5 record as a player in seven appearances. Team Europe honored Ballesteros, who passed away in 2011 at age 54, by giving Seve a locker in the team room featuring the last shirt he wore in Ryder Cup competition.
On Saturday at Marco Simone, fans in the grandstands surrounding the first tee unveiled a colorful 150-foot-long banner with a picture of Ballesteros that said “Per Sempre Nei Nostri Cuori” which means “Forever in Our Hearts.” Former European Ryder Cup standout and fellow Spaniard José María Olazábal, a Team Europe Vice Captain in 2023, along with Seve’s youngest son and Captain Donald, were on the first tee to applaud the unfurling of the banner.
“The spirit of Seve has been with us all week,” said Donald. “What Seve did for the Ryder Cup and for Team Europe’s Ryder Cup success is truly legendary. He has been a source of inspiration for many golfers and his impact on the Ryder Cup is legendary. There was nothing as important as the Ryder Cup to Seve.”
Added fellow Spaniard Rahm, who gave Team Europe three points to power its 2023 victory, “Seve is the reason why I am playing golf and playing in the Ryder Cup this week.”
Norway’s Hovland, who won the FedEx Cup playoffs five weeks before the 2023 Ryder Cup, teamed up with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg to make a bit of history in Saturday’s foursomes. The Team Europe duo, who played college golf at Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, respectively, upset World No. 1 Scheffler and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka 9-and-7 in the Saturday morning foursomes. It was the largest margin of victory in Ryder Cup history in any format.
“One of those days when everything went right and everything was going in,” assessed Hovland, who contributed 3½ points to the European victory, including an impressive 3-and-2 victory over 2023 Open Championship winner Brian Harman in the Sunday singles.
Despite the loss, there were some solid performances for the U.S. Team in 2023. Ryder Cup rookies Max Homa (3-1-1) and Brian Harman (2-2) contributed five combined victories to the U.S. total in their debuts at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. Homa and Harman teamed up for two wins on Saturday and Homa fueled the U.S. squad’s comeback in Sunday’s singles with a dramatic 1-up victory over former U.S. Open Champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England.
Homa’s singles’ win postponed the Team Europe clincher until England’s Tommy Fleetwood clinched a 3-and-1 victory over American Rickie Fowler a few minutes later. —Roger Graves
