golf
44th Ryder Cup: Europe’s golf stars with team spirit on course for the title
Rory McIlroy is on course for victory with Team Europe at the Ryder Cup. photo
© David Davies/PA Wire/dpa
Europe’s top golfers are only four points away from triumph at the 44th Ryder Cup. The defending champions, on the other hand, need a miracle in Rome.
The great team spirit and the emotional fans inspire Europe’s golf stars. Rory McIlroy and Co. have the best chance of reclaiming the trophy from the Americans at the 44th Ryder Cup in Rome.
Before the final day of the prestigious continental competition at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, captain Luke Donald’s team is clearly in the lead with 10.5:5.5 points against the defending champions from the USA.
Only four wins are missing
The Europeans only need four points from the final twelve individual matches on Sunday to triumph. The challenger must achieve at least 14.5:13.5 to win. The US team, on the other hand, needs 8.5 points and a miracle. A 14-14 draw would see the defending champions retain the Ryder Cup trophy.
The hosts also dominated the action on the golf course just outside Rome on Saturday morning and won three of the four morning duels. The two Scandinavians Viktor Hovland (Norway) and Ryder Cup newcomer Ludvig Aberg (Sweden) celebrated a record victory in the foursomes format against world number one Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka. With a lead of nine points, the match was decided early for the Europeans after just eleven holes played. Scheffler had tears in his eyes after the bitter defeat.
“Couldn’t have done much better”
“I don’t think we could have done much better,” said Hovland after the success against the prominent US duo and also praised the playing ability of his partner Aberg: “He’s a great guy.”
In the afternoon, the US stars started a little race to catch up. They won three of the four duels, one match went to the Europeans.
Europe’s strength on the first two days was once again the much-vaunted team spirit. Again and again they loudly cheered each other on, high-fived each other and gave each other tips. The Americans missed this passion for a long time. It wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that they showed some emotion.
However, some players like Scheffler appeared physically weak. US captain Zach Johnson indicated in the press conference after the first day that his team was struggling with health problems. “There’s a little bit of passing around, caddies, players,” Johnson said. “I’m grateful we have a team doctor.”
Two years ago, the US team defeated the Europeans in Whistling Straits in the US state of Wisconsin with a record victory of 19:9 points. However, the US team’s success on European soil dates back 30 years.