The 45th Ryder Cup was entertainment at its finest. The Ryder Cup was held on U.S. soil on September 26-28 at the Black Course of Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York. While the score eventually ended in 15 to 13, it does not tell the whole story.
The Ryder Cup is a match play event held every two years either in the U.S. or in Europe, with each match being worth one point. The format is Team U.S.A. versus Team Europe. The first day of matches is four foursome matches in the morning and afternoon. The morning matches are alternate shot and the afternoon matches are better ball. Day two includes four more foursome matches in the morning and the afternoon. These matches are both best ball. The third day is twelve singles matches. Famously, the fourth day is where the event’s results sway the most.
For the 45th Ryder Cup, captains Keegan Bradley (U.S.A) and Luke Donald were selected. For each team, the top six players in the Ryder Cup points list will receive automatic selection, and six players would receive special selection by the captains. Team U.S.A consisted of Scottie Scheffler (Q), (Q), Xander Schauffele (Q), Russell Henley (Q), Harris English (Q), Bryson DeChambeau (Q), Justin Thomas (P), Collin Morikawa (P), Ben Griffin (P), Cameron Young (P), Patrick Cantlay (P), and Sam Burns (P). Team Europe consisted of Rory McIlroy (Q), Robert MacIntyre (Q), Tommy Fleetwood (Q), Justin Rose (Q), Rasmus Højgaard (Q), Tyrrell Hatton (Q), Shane Lowry (P), Sepp Straka (P), Ludvig Åberg (P), Viktor Hovland (P), Matt Fitzpatrick (P), and Jon Rahm (P).
The President of the United States attended day one’s festivities with his granddaughter Kai. Day one ended in five-and-a-half to two-and-a-half in favor of the European team. Day two left the score as eleven-and-a-half to four-and-a-half. What appeared to be a blowout of Team U.S.A took a dramatic turn into day three. Team U.S.A. riding on the power of the home crowd came riding back to bring the match within two points by the end of the day. It ended at fifteen to thirteen. Although the U.S. lost, they almost completed one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history, winning a majority of their matches.
With wild fan interference and chatter, huge disruptions, brawls, and crazy showings of patriotism, the Ryder Cup has remained as one of sport’s greatest events.
