Ryder Cup 2014: Winner, Final Standings, Points and Team USA vs. Europe Results
In pairs, Europe proved a force far too powerful for the United States to stop. As individuals, not quite as much. But it was still more than enough for the Europeans to halt any thoughts of a United States comeback.
Jamie Donaldson holed out a putt on No. 15 to close out Keegan Bradley 4-and-3 to clinch the Europeans' third straight Ryder Cup victory. The hosts finished out the event with an 16.5-11.5 overall victory, eclipsing the 14.5-13.5 marks of the last two events.
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Europe has taken eight of the 10 Ryder Cups in the past two decades. While there have been only rare blowouts—2006 and 2004 standing out among a crowd of mostly close results—it was clear the Europeans were the favorites heading in and played like it. Europe held a 10-6 lead going into Sunday and added 6.5 more wins to comfortably pull away at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.
After a couple days of up-and-down play with partners Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy got himself into a groove with only himself to rely on. The world's top-ranked golfer made slight work of Rickie Fowler, taking a four-hole advantage on the front nine before winning the match 5-and-4.
McIlroy's Ryder Cup to that point had looked nothing like his late-season dominance. He had gone 1-1-2 in his first four matches, losing his first and then halving the next two before he and Garcia finally got over the hump Saturday afternoon.
"I was very comfortable up the order. I was more up for this final day than I was for the final days of the two majors I won," McIlroy said, per Rob Bagchi of The Telegraph. "All week it's been a pleasure to play in front of such passionate fans. It's been an amazing experience."
The Ryder Cup win is a proper closing to a magical 2014 for McIlroy, who won the year's last two majors and narrowly missed out on his first FedEx Cup. Though it was a year of off-the-course tumult due to the attention given to his breakup with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, his recommitment to golf has proven fruitful.
"I'm at the stage of my career and the stage of my life when I'm putting golf first," McIlroy told BBC Sport. "Golf is the priority for me right now. For the foreseeable future that is what it is going to be."
Separated from their top-ranked partner, Garcia and Poulter were forced to go about business alone Sunday. Both had their ups and downs.
Poulter lost his first hole to Webb Simpson and spent most of his day in a see-saw battle. Poulter, who up to this point had been undefeated in singles matches, carried a two-hole advantage at the turn and held a lead until No. 14, where Simpson forced the match to all square. After Simpson took a lead on No. 17, it looked like the Americans would get the point—only for the always-clutch Poulter to take the final hole and sneak out a halved match.
Garcia's day went in a similar fashion. Jim Furyk took the first hole and then the two traded blows and counter-blows—at one point from No. 3 to No. 7, there was only one halved hole—as the American lost his lead, went behind and then came back to regain the advantage. The match was either all square or in Furyk's favor for 14 of the first 15 holes, but Garcia made the shots when they counted. His win at No. 16 put him 1-up, an advantage he carried through the final two holes.
Much of the afternoon for the Americans was spent building and squandering leads. Jordan Spieth hadn't dropped a hole and was 3-up on Graeme McDowell after the front nine, only for McDowell to win each of the first four holes on the back. Spieth did not win a single hole after No. 5 in the 2-and-1 loss.
"Will Jordan Spieth learn from Patrick Reed that you can burn without falling apart?
— Sally Jenkins (@sallyjenx) September 28, 2014"
In the same light, Hunter Mahan's halved match with Justin Rose felt like an American loss. Mahan took a lead on the opening hole and was 4-up through six holes, setting up what looked like the most surprising blowout of the entire tournament.
But Rose quickly settled, taking four straight holes from No. 8 to No. 11 to tie the match. The pair played out the rest of the match competitively, with Rose sinking a key putt on No. 18 to even the score.
A day after controversially being sat down by U.S. captain Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson came out firing against Stephen Gallacher. Mickelson went down a hole on No. 2 but battled back to take three of four holes on a stretch from No. 5 to No. 8 to take a commanding lead. He finished out Gallacher 3-and-1 at a point when it looked like the Americans were prepping for a comeback.
Watson benched Mickelson and Keegan Bradley despite a 1-1 record Friday, which included a 1-up win over Garcia and McIlroy. It was the first time in Mickelson's Ryder Cup career that he did not participate in a day—and he was understandably frustrated as the U.S. fell behind. The former world No. 1 "lobbied" his captain hard but Watson rebuffed his overtures.
“He [Mickelson] didn’t play very well yesterday," Watson told reporters. "I told him that. I said: ‘You struggled yesterday.’ And whether that was from being tired or the course not being set up exactly for his type of game, I had to make that decision.”
Sitting Mickelson was one of a few questionable decisions from Watson. On Friday, he sat the promising duo of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed for the afternoon session. The U.S. managed to score only 0.5 points as Europe pulled ahead—the same number they had Saturday afternoon.
When looking back on the event, it's possible that Watson's decisions swung a couple critical points. Either way, those points wouldn't have been enough to make a real difference.
Europe was an overwhelming favorite coming in for good reason. It boasted the world's best player, seasoned Ryder Cup veterans and the home-course advantage. Even if more of Mickelson and Reed may have helped, it's unlikely they could have atoned for the talent disparity.
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