FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK | What is it with the Irish and the Ryder Cup? Perhaps it’s the Irish gnome of folklore, not Abe Mitchell the British pro, who stands atop the golden chalice as the prize in the competition that united two continents and thrills a world. Again and again an Irishman has stepped in at the conclusion of a Ryder Cup to deliver a telling blow for Europe.
Just when it was needed, Christy O’Connor Jr. hit the shot of his life at The Belfry to help Europe to tie with the U.S. in 1989. It was Philip Walton’s turn on the 18th at Oak Hill in 1995 when Europe won in the U.S. for only the second time in the modern era. Paul McGinley got a vital half against Jim Furyk when Europe won at home, again at The Belfry, in 2002. Playing last man out in 2010, Graeme McDowell, the U.S. Open champion, showed redoubtable mental strength to win his match when the four Europe men above him had won only a half point.
On Sunday afternoon, when one by one many of Europe’s strongest men of the first two days had been defeated, up stepped Irishman Shane Lowry to birdie the 18th, gain the half point that ensured Europe retained the Cup and celebrate with an Irish jig, arms going this way, legs the other, on the 18th green. As a celebration, it made some of Bryson DeChambeau’s seem statuesque. “I said to my caddie walking down the 18th, ‘I’ve got an opportunity to do the greatest thing I’ve ever done today.’” Lowry said. “I am very proud of myself that I was able to do it.”
Close and nerve-wracking for those of a Europe persuasion as this victory was, it was founded on Europe’s play over the first two days, the greatest demonstration of team golf that I have ever seen in Ryder, Solheim, Walker or Curtis cups in 50 years.
Never before in the U.S. had Europe won the first two sessions as they did on Friday and then they won Saturday’s two sessions again, a record. Their golf was simply sensational. In two sessions on Saturday 136 holes were played. The U.S. won only 14. It’s easy to say the Americans were not very good and it would be inaccurate. They were good, scoring 50 eagles or birdies on Saturday. But with 60 eagles or birdies Europe were better.
The Europeans sent Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1, to a fourth defeat and Bryson DeChambeau, the U.S. heartbeat, to his third, while Tommy Fleetwood won his fourth point for his team and Rory McIlroy’s points total moved to 3½ out of four despite much barracking from spectators. It didn’t work. It seemed to spur him to even better play.
Wherever you looked Europeans were hitting extraordinary strokes, holing crucial putts. It was brilliant golf and not surprisingly the top three points scorers were Fleetwood, Jon Rahm and McIlroy as Europe sped into a record/unprecedented 11½-4½ lead. “I didn’t really imagine this,” Europe captain Luke Donald said on Saturday night.
This sustained brilliance by Donald’s men was the culmination of a planning process that began before the echoes of the defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021 had disappeared. Many factors were scrutinised by Ryder Cup Europe and it became clear that two changes had to be made.
The first pertained to the discovery that rookies did not score well in overseas matches. This was dealt with this year by having only one, Rasmus Højgaard. The second pertained to the conclusion that changing captains for each match resulted in a loss of knowledge and time having to be spent to bring the incoming captain up to speed.
After replacing Henrik Stenson, who had defected to LIV Golf in 2022, Donald had 13 months to get ready for the next year’s match in Rome. But having agreed to serve a second term within days of winning in September 2023, he had two years to prepare for Bethpage. This was a godsend to a man as detailed, thorough and hard-working as Donald. He wrote his speech for the opening ceremony six months ago. Communication is a key for Donald, and immediately after he was reappointed he was communicating with potential team members, which no captain had done before him.
The input of vice captain/statistical wizard Edoardo Molinari was enormous, and he and Donald spent weeks in conversation, thinking how to deal with the raucous spectators, working out a team plan, strategizing over the pairings.
“His attention to details, his knowledge of the Ryder Cup and the game and what we do on the golf course day in and day out is what made these last two Ryder Cups possible,” Jon Rahm said of Donald. “He is the captain of the ship and he has led us better than I can see anybody leading us.”
“Integrity is really just doing the things you say you’re going to do. I gave the team a promise that I would prepare as best I could for them over these past 19 months and that’s good enough for me.”
Luke Donald
Donald has repeatedly said his role is to give his players the best chance to win. Nothing was too much trouble for him to do for his men. There was a crack in the doors to their hotel rooms letting light in. They had that repaired. The players didn’t like the smell of the shampoo in their hotel rooms. That was changed. The bedding was not good enough. New, better quality bedding was substituted. The virtual reality headsets given to his players to simulate the heckling they would face at Bethpage were one example of the breadth of Donald’s thinking. The proof of this came again and again. Europe players often ignored the abuse and responded by winning the next hole.
Donald and Molinari knew the course would probably be set up with wide fairways and light rough to encourage birdies. In this setting up of the course Bradley may have been hoist with his own petard. The days of a U.S. team being significantly longer are gone, and if the slow greens favoured one team that team was not the U.S.
“I think legacy has something to do with winning and losing of course,” Donald said, “but for me it’s important what my teammates think about me, how I go about things, the preparation I go into and the trust that I have created among the team and the fact that I try and do things from a humbling way and to show integrity.
All in all, Donald and his thoroughness bore out what McGinley had said about him a week earlier: “What players want from their captain is that he won’t be outsmarted. The players know he won’t be. They know he knows.”
The DP World Tour put a huge amount of money into the Ryder Cup because it generates far more. They have a department devoted to it and plan far ahead. Long before Rome two years ago this department was looking ahead to Adare Manor in 2027. Their social media output is testament to how much thought goes into a Ryder Cup.
A result of this planning and expenditure was demonstrated on Friday and Saturday with Europe’s players performing heroic feats of golf. Though they nearly got overhauled on a memorable Sunday, the result was a 15-13 victory, the fifth time in the modern era that Europe have won in the U.S. What price Donald as Europe’s captain at Adare Manor in 2027?
E-MAIL JOHN
Top: Europe’s captain Luke Donald raises the Ryder Cup after leading the team to victory.
David Cannon, getty images