Former UNLV star Ryan Moore plays key role in Americans’ Ryder Cup victory
CHASKA, Minn. — This wasn’t about being maybe the best team ever assembled. The Americans were simply a team, and they finally won back the Ryder Cup.
Phil Mickelson led the Americans behind the scenes. Patrick Reed powered them with his passion on the golf course. And it was former UNLV star Ryan Moore, the final captain’s pick who wasn’t even on the team until a week ago Sunday, who delivered the cup-clinching point at Hazeltine.
Moore finished eagle-birdie-par for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, and the celebration was on.
“This is unbelievable right now, to actually get the point that clinched it for us,” Moore, 33, told Reuters after being sent out in the seventh match of the day by U.S. captain Davis Love III.
“Obviously we had some great play going on behind me. I was able to relax and play those last couple of holes … sneak a win out there.”
Said Mickelson: “When put in the right environment, the U.S. team brought out some amazing golf. And we’re bringing back the Ryder Cup because of it.”
There was no meltdown like Medinah four years ago, when the Americans blew a 10-6 lead under Love.
Europe never really had a chance.
Reed outdueled and outshouted Rory McIlroy for a 1-up victory, and by then the back end of the scoreboard was filled with American red.
The final score was 17-11, the biggest rout for the United States since 1981. That U.S. team is considered the best team ever assembled with 11 major champions. In a radio interview going into the Ryder Cup, Love was trying to explain that the Americans didn’t have to do anything “super human” when he said, “This is the best team maybe ever assembled.”
Ultimately, this wasn’t about measuring against the past as much as it was building to the future.
The Americans lost for the third straight time in 2014 at Gleneagles, and it was team divided over everything from how the captain was selected to how the team should be built. Mickelson put his image on the line by publicly challenging captain Tom Watson at the closing press conference in Scotland, and he was the strongest voice among five players on a task force that was assembled to figure out why the Americans couldn’t seem to win.
Mickelson was under pressure all week and delivered 2 1/2 points, including a halve with Sergio Garcia in which both birdied the final two holes.
“You keep losing, you feel like you have to do something different,” said Love, who avoided becoming the first U.S. captain to lose the Ryder Cup twice. “They had a lot of pressure on them for the last two years. And every time we picked a guy, there was more and more pressure on the team and more and more questions. And I’m just proud the way every one of them played. It was a great team effort.”
The golf was equally great.
Reed faced the tallest order in the leadoff match with Rory McIlroy, and the quality of golf was as high as it gets. Reed squared the match by driving the fifth green to 8 feet for eagle, and he kept the tee until the 18th. Reed matched McIlroy’s birdie on No. 6, McIlroy matched Reed’s birdie on No. 7 and the par-3 eighth hole was as sensational as it gets in a Ryder Cup.
McIlroy holed a 60-foot birdie putt, leapt into the air and cupped his hand to his ear, mocking the American crowd to yell even louder. Reed then holed a birdie putt from 35 feet, charging the crowd before turning to wag his finger at McIlroy. They bumped fists and patted each other on the back, both 5 under through eight holes.
Their standard of gold dipped after that, perhaps because they spent so much energy pumping fists, and Reed finally took his first lead when McIlroy bogeyed the 12th hole. McIlroy’s putter went cold, and Reed closed him out with a 7-foot birdie on the 18th.
Mickelson made 10 birdies, and Garcia made nine birdies against no bogeys in their match.
Among the lone bright spots for Europe was Thomas Pieters, the Belgian rookie who had the best debut of any European rookie by going 4-1. He took down J.B. Holmes in the third match, right after Henrik Stenson dismantled Jordan Spieth. By then, it was ominous.
There would be no comeback like Medinah. There would be no celebrating for Europe, which it had done eight of the last 10 times.
The Americans stood atop a bridge to the left of the 18th green and sprayed champagne on themselves and the crowd, an enormous gathering that sent endless cheers of “U-S-A” and “Red, white, blue” across Hazeltine for three straight days.
Every U.S. player contributed a point.
For Europe, Westwood was among four players who ended the week without a point.
The Ryder Cup Task Force was dismantled after Love was named captain for the second time, though Mickelson and Tiger Woods remain on a committee for the next Ryder Cup in 2018 in France. Europe has not lost consecutive Ryder Cups since 1993.
RYDER CUP RESULTS
At Hazeltine National
Chaska, Minn.
Yardage: 7,628; Par: 72
FRIDAY
UNITED STATES 4, EUROPE 0
Foursomes
United States 4, Europe 0
Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, United States, def. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, Europe, 3 and 2.
Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, United States, def. Rory McIlroy and Andy Sullivan, Europe, 1 up.
Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson, United States, def. Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, Europe, 4 and 2.
Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, United States, def. Thomas Pieters and Lee Westwood, 5 and 4.
Fourballs
Europe 3, United States 1
Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, Europe, def. Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, United States, 5 and 4.
Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello, Europe, def. J.B. Holmes and Ryan Moore, United States, 3 and 2.
Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka, United States, def. Martin Kaymer and Danny Willett, Europe, 5 and 4.
Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters, Europe, def. Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, United States, 3 and 2.
SATURDAY
UNITED STATES 9½, EUROPE 6½
Foursomes
Europe 2½, United States 1½
Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters, Europe, def. Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson, United States, 4 and 2.
Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka, United States, def. Henrik Stenson and Matt Fitzpatrick, Europe, 3 and 2.
Justin Rose and Chris Wood, Europe, def. Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson, United States, 1 up.
Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello, Europe, halved with Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, United States.
Fourballs
United States 3, Europe 1
Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters, Europe, def. Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, United States, 3 and 1.
J.B. Holmes and Ryan Moore, United States, def. Danny Willett and Lee Westwood, Europe, 1 up.
Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar, United States, def. Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia, Europe, 2 and 1.
Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth, United States, def. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, Europe, 2 and 1.
SUNDAY
UNITED STATES 17, EUROPE 11
Singles
United States 7½, Europe 4½
Patrick Reed, United States, def. Rory McIlroy, Europe, 1 up.
Henrik Stenson, Europe, def. Jordan Spieth, United States, 3 and 2.
Thomas Pieters, Europe, def. J.B. Holmes, United States, 3 and 2.
Rickie Fowler, United States, def. Justin Rose, Europe, 1 up.
Rafa Cabrera Bello, Europe, def. Jimmy Walker, United States, 3 and 2.
Sergio Garcia, Europe, halved with Phil Mickelson, United States.
Ryan Moore, United States, def. Lee Westwood, Europe, 1 up.
Brandt Snedeker, United States, def. Andy Sullivan, Europe, 3 and 1.
Dustin Johnson, United States, def. Chris Wood, Europe, 1 up.
Brooks Koepka, United States, def. Danny Willett, Europe, 5 and 4.
Martin Kaymer, Europe, def. Matt Kuchar, United States, 1 up.
Zach Johnson, United States, def. Matt Fitzpatrick, Europe, 4 and 3.