Third Ryder Cup win for the Americans

The United States completed its domination at the 2020 Ryder Cup on Sunday, defeating Europe 19-9 to clinch the largest margin of victory in the modern history of the event. It’s the third Ryder Cup win for the Americans this century (3-7) and the second in as many tries on home soil.

The U.S. took an 11-5 lead into Sunday singles, its largest such advantage entering the final session at the Ryder Cup since 1975. After the Americans won three of the first four singles points, Collin Morikawa tied Viktor Hovland in his match to guarantee a half point for the Americans that would get them to 14.5 points for the win.

“It means so much. … To clinch this and bring the cup back to home soil, it feels so good,” Morikawa said after his round. “… The guys pulled through. We didn’t let up, and looking at the leaderboard, hopefully we can keep going and hit the 18.5 or get past that. … I don’t think this is just a win. It’s a dominant win. Everyone showed up. All 12 of us, when we’re called upon, we show up.”

The 18.5 to which Morikawa is referring was the modern Ryder Cup scoring record achieved by the U.S. in 1981 and Europe in 2004 and 2006. The 19 total points scored by the Americans is the most for either side in the Ryder Cup since the rest of Europe joined Great Britain and Ireland at the event in 1979. It’s also the most points scored in any Ryder Cup since 1975 (21-11).

“This is the greatest team of all-time right here,” U.S. captain Steve Stricker said.

“I never won a major,” he said later with tears in his eyes. “This is my major right here.”

The Americans won the singles competition 7-3-2 after being favored in 11 of 12 matches to start the day. All 12 U.S. golfers won at least one match in foursomes or four-ball before singles competition on Sunday.

Dustin Johnson began the day undefeated on the event for the U.S. and became the first top-ranked American to finish a Ryder Cup with a perfect 5-0-0 mark after he defeated Paul Casey 1UP. He’s just the fifth ever to reach the 5-0-0 mark, period, joining Gardner Dickinson and Arnold Palmer (1967), Larry Nelson (1979) and Francesco Molinari (2018).

Rory McIlroy won the first singles point Sunday for Europe, defeating Xander Schauffele 3&2, but the U.S. immediately responded with a 4&2 victory for Patrick Cantlay over Shane Lowry. Next, the Americans took down Europe’s top two performers in the Ryder Cup as Scottie Scheffler beat Jon Rahm 4&3 and Bryson DeChambeau topped Sergio Garcia 3&2.

After Morikawa’s trophy-clinching tie, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas continued the U.S. scoring with respective wins over Bernd Wiesberger (2&1) and Tyrrell Hatton (4&3). On either side of Johnson’s victory, Europe got just its second and third points of the day with Ian Poulter finishing 3&2 over Tony Finau and Lee Westwood beating Harris English 1UP. Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood then tied before Daniel Berger beat Matt Fitzpatrick 1UP to make history in the final match.

“Speechless. These guys all came together. They had a mission this week,” Stricker said. “Brooks and Bryson wanted to play together. That’s how much they all came together. This is a new era for USA golf.”

The United States entered as heavy favorites for the biennial trophy, led 6-2 after Day 1 and extended its advantage on Day 2. The U.S. won each of the first three sessions 3-1 before splitting the fourth session 2-2 with Europe. With the singles wins on Sunday, it’s the first time in modern history that the Americans went through a Ryder Cup without losing a single session.

SOURCE: cbssports.com