FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Two years ago in Italy, a jubilant Rory McIlroy made a bold guarantee.
“I think one of the biggest accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup,” McIlroy said. “And that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.”
It took far, far longer than the crowds expected, but consider the promise fulfilled.
Shane Lowry of Ireland drained a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, and Team Europe survived a near-unprecedented rally by the United States team to prevail 15-13 and hoist the 45th Ryder Cup on Sunday at Bethpage Black.
As defending champions, the Europeans needed to reach 14 points to ensure the Cup stayed with them. It took until Lowry’s match, the eighth of the day, for that to happen.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton pushed his team to the 14 1/2 mark required to win outright when he halved with Collin Morikawa — nearly five hours and 45 minutes after singles began. Robert MacIntyre of Scotland won his final hole against Sam Burns to split the final match.
The Americans were outplayed throughout Friday and Saturday and needed 10 of an available 12 points to pull off the largest comeback in Ryder Cup history. They wound up dominating singles 8 1/2-3 1/2; the only European player to win his match was Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, 2 and 1 over Patrick Cantlay.
It marks Team Europe’s 11th win in the last 15 Ryder Cups and its second in a row under captain Luke Donald of England. The result also ended a five-match winning streak for the hosts in the event. No visiting team had won the Ryder Cup since Europe’s “Miracle at Medinah” comeback in 2012.
First-time U.S. captain Keegan Bradley declared the unbeaten Donald the greatest European captain of all time.
“It’s just taking the time and having the care that you want to do everything you can to kind of give these guys the best opportunity,” Donald said. “You want to create an environment where they can succeed. These are 12 amazing players, we know that. You’re just trying to, again, put them in a position where they feel comfortable.”
Lowry was 1 down to Russell Henley through 16 holes. At No. 17, Henley missed a birdie that could have put away the match. He then hit a remarkable shot from the sand onto the 18th green, only to miss another 10-footer that would have sealed his victory.
Lowry holed his short putt to snag the half-point, and several teammates joined him on the green in raucous celebration.
“I didn’t envision myself going up the 18th needing a birdie to retain the Ryder Cup. It was like the worst two hours of my life,” Lowry said with a laugh. “It was horrible. It was.
“But I said to my caddie walking down 18, ‘I’ve got an opportunity to do the greatest thing I’ve ever done today,’ and I did it. And I’m very proud of myself.”
With clutch performances from Cameron Young, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler — who earned his first point after an 0-4-0 start — Bradley and the Americans ensured a more forgiving margin than their 16 1/2-11 1/2 loss in 2023. Still, the United States will have plenty to address before the 2027 Ryder Cup in Ireland, having resoundingly lost the first four sessions as the home team.
Bradley claimed his players in good spirits Saturday night.
“I was honestly pretty surprised. I was on a team that got smoked (in 2014) and we did not have that feeling,” Bradley said. “When we went to bed, I was just astonished at how these guys were like, ‘We’re going to win this,’ and they believed it. They weren’t just saying it. I could see the belief in their eyes. I could see it this morning.”
Europe entered the day leading 11 1/2 points to 4 1/2, but the score changed to 12-5 before a match started.
Norway’s Viktor Hovland withdrew from singles after hurting his neck Saturday morning and being unable to move it when he awoke Sunday. The U.S. took Harris English out of the lineup under the event’s rarely used “envelope rule,” and the match counted as a draw.
The first three matches played out in dramatic fashion and were all square when they reached the 18th hole.
New York native Young won the opening match against English stalwart Justin Rose, 1 up, on a 12-foot birdie putt. Rose had charged back from 3 down by birdieing Nos. 13, 14 and 16, which included an improbable third shot at the par-5 13th from near a TV tower to 5 feet.
Thomas dropped his putter and exploded in celebration when he birdied from 12 feet to prevail 1 up against England’s Tommy Fleetwood — who was 4-0-0 entering the day.
The biggest rally belonged to Bryson DeChambeau against England’s Matt Fitzpatrick. DeChambeau went 5 down through seven holes but won Nos. 8 and 9 to take momentum to the back nine. He birdied Nos. 14 and 15, and the match became tied when Fitzpatrick’s par save at the par-3 17th lipped out. But both players missed long birdie putts at No. 18 and they halved the match.
Xander Schauffele’s 4-and-3 win over Spaniard Jon Rahm and Scheffler’s 1-up win over McIlroy of Northern Ireland boosted the Americans further, but Aberg earned the lone European win to make it 13 1/2-10 1/2.
“It was one of those situations where I just thought back to what Xander said, ‘It’s not over ’til the whistle blows,’” DeChambeau said. “And I wasn’t willing to give up for this team.
“I fought my ass off today for this team, for this country, and we all fought hard today. You can see, it reflects in the leaderboard and what we did today.”
Nevertheless, the “U-S-A” chants that rang out throughout the afternoon faded to European “Oles.”
And where was McIlroy? At the center of the celebration, enjoying a guarantee that came true.
“It’s nice to be right. I’m not right all the time,” said McIlroy, hoarse from shouting, European flag draped on his shoulders. “I have absolute confidence in this team, absolute confidence in our leader, Luke Donald. The vice captains, the backroom staff, the things that people don’t see behind the scenes.
“I think we won in Rome, and the wheels were set in motion to try to do something that had not been done in over a decade.”
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
