How Europe was able to back up Rory McIlroy's words and win on the road

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Rory McIlroy was obscurity to beryllium found.

Two years aft helium had called his changeable and predicted a triumph astatine Bethpage Black, Shane Lowry's birdie putt connected the 18th greenish Sunday transformed McIlroy's comments from assured to prophetic. The celebration, however, had started without him.

A gleeful Lowry bounced to the tune of a heavy European assemblage that serenaded him with chants. Jon Rahm hugged chap Spaniard and vice skipper José María Olazábal -- skipper of the past squad to triumph a roadworthy cupful successful 2012 -- who cried connected his shoulder. European skipper Luke Donald was yet capable to exhale.

McIlroy had mislaid his blockbuster singles lucifer against Scottie Scheffler 1-down and for a moment, the accidental of being connected the incorrect extremity of the biggest illness successful Ryder Cup past appeared plausible. Down 12-5, the United States squad had mounted a comeback and made the Ryder Cup arsenic adjacent arsenic everyone thought it could be.

Suddenly, each constituent mattered. Suddenly, the United States fans had travel alive, chanting for their squad and cheering connected its golfers alternatively than jeering astatine the Europeans. Suddenly, McIlroy had to trust connected anyone but himself.

"It evidently was truly choky determination astatine the end," McIlroy said. "It was a spot stressful."

So McIlroy stayed retired connected the course, bouncing betwixt Tyrrell Hatton's lucifer and Robert MacIntyre's, trying to adhd enactment with sheer beingness alone. Even erstwhile Lowry's putt that retained the cupful dropped, helium remained retired determination done the last lucifer that gave Europe triumph connected a knife's edge: 15-13.

"It's bully to beryllium right. I'm not close each the time," McIlroy said of his prediction. "I deliberation erstwhile we won successful Rome, the wheels were acceptable successful question to effort to bash thing that had not been done successful implicit a decade. We believed a batch successful our continuity."

Beyond returning 11 of 12 players from Rome, determination is simply a definite cohesion with this European squad that is possibly hard to distill but casual to see. It's determination successful the mode the golfers observe erstwhile they triumph a spread oregon a match, but besides successful the mode they respond erstwhile they don't. It's palpable erstwhile the archetypal spot they spell to upon making a important putt is to relish successful the infinitesimal with their partner. It's evident erstwhile adjacent the mode they clasp projects a benignant of closeness that doesn't awesome concern spouse but alternatively member successful arms.

PGA Tour, 72-hole changeable play play requires an immense magnitude of attraction and focus. It is simply a singular endeavor that demands patience and rewards consistency much than aggression. Match play and alternate changeable format bash too, but implicit the past 2 Ryder Cups, it has go wide that portion the Americans presumption those formats arsenic obstacles to flooded with talent, the Europeans spot it arsenic an accidental to showcase their unity (they are 14-2 successful foursomes implicit that time). Team play is, unequivocally, their spot and what allowed them to some contention retired to an insurmountable pb this week and besides stem the reddish tide of points that won oregon tied 11 of 12 singles matches Sunday.

In astir each Ryder Cup implicit the past 12 years, the United States has held the endowment advantage. It's what has led to ascendant wins astatine Whistling Straits successful 2021 and Hazeltine successful 2016. But adjacent successful losses, Europeans recovered glimmers of joy, successful portion due to the fact that of the mode they presumption this week.

"Ryder Cup weeks are the champion weeks of our lives," Donald said. "I deliberation those weeks we walk unneurotic are the ones we retrieve the astir and the ones we cherish the astir due to the fact that of the clip we get to walk with each other. That's a large portion of my captaincy is to make an situation wherever these guys are having the champion weeks of their lives, honestly."<...