Destined for greatness – why Donald’s Europe are set to win Ryder Cup

Luke Donald is on the verge of becoming a great Ryder Cup player.

The Englishman is currently on the verge of becoming the second European captain to win both home and away matches after Tony Jacklin. He has won four out of four as a player.

Europe will need three points to win on the road for the first time since 2012 to advance to Sunday’s 12 singles matches, which are a record 1112-4112.

Saturday’s 6-2 demolition job has appeared to have made Sunday a formality, if the statistics that came after Friday’s 51-212 scoreline gave the impression that this was going to be Europe’s year.

No team has ever triumphed in a game that started with a 10-6 lead in the 1999 US “Battle of Brookline” and the 2012 Miracle at Medinah in Europe.

On the eve of Europe claiming its fifth away win, following 1987, 1995, 2004, and 2012, Donald was obviously saying all the right things.

“Their job has not yet been finished,” they said. I won’t be complacent. There will be a lot of fighting between them. We’re attempting to score 141 / 2 first, he said, quoting a captain who has made the usual preparations since winning in Rome two years ago.

At the conclusion of day two, he admitted that he “didn’t really imagine this” as a scenario.

What kind of scenario is it?

This is the largest lead a European team has currently held, surpassing the record-breaking 181-912- away triumph they won at Oakland Hills in 2004 with an 11-5 advantage.

To overturn this, the US will need to receive ten of the offered points. The final day saw the most secure teams of either team, with 812-182 in the US and Europe, in 2006 and 2012 and in 1979 and 1999.

Only four of the 22 Ryder Cups have ended in a second place finish after Europe joined in 1979: 1993, 1995, 1999, and 2012.

It also gives any away team the biggest lead, even though their run of big blowout victories looks set to reach six. Neither side wants to reverse the trend of dominating home victories.

The past five have been won by the home team by five points (Europe, 2014), six (US, 2016), seven (Europe, 2018), 10 (US, 2021), five (Europe 2023).

Eight of the last ten Ryder Cup victories came by five or more points. In each of the eight previous editions (1987 to 2002), the gap was never greater than three points.

US skipper Keegan Bradley was putting his best foot forward as he attempted to win the Super Bowl, despite being in danger of losing it by nine points on home soil in 2004.

The New England Patriots are supported by Bradley, who is from this region of the United States.

When he was asked before Singles on Sunday if he would tell his players, he responded, “28-3.” That Super Bowl was one I attended. I watched it. What a cool thing to have actually witnessed live.”

Bradley was referring to the Patriots’ overtime victory over Atlanta, which was the showpiece of American football in 2017.

However, the Ryder Cup doesn’t include any extra holes, and a 14-14 tie, while resurrecting, would still see holders Europe retain the trophy.

Bradley’s narrative is being supported by Bryson DeChambeau, who, along with Cameron Young, won one of the US’s two points on Saturday.

The two-time major winner, who has been a big crowd favorite this week, said, “Anything can happen.”

Although it may be a little lopsided, it would make a great comeback story.

And Xander Schauffele and JJ Spaun, who were the only scorers in the afternoon fourballs, had clear ideas for how to overcome the deficit.

In a list that has seen Bradley embark on what Spaun suggested, “go for broke,” the heavyweight match-up of the world numbers one and two stands out.

Ryder Cup winner Scottie Scheffler is having a bad time. In each of the first four sessions, he is the first player to lose a match since Peter Alliss in 1967. And now he’s facing a fired-up Rory McIlroy, who hasn’t lost any of his opponents’ fans in a while and has only managed 31 points overall.

In a ploy Bradley is undoubtedly using to generate some early support and in the hopes of getting some early red on the scoreboard, New Yorker Cameron Young, the US team’s joint top scorer with two points, heads out first in the top game.

However, he is dealing with the grinder in Europe. Even though he only has two fourball games, Justin Rose has won both of his matches with Tommy Fleetwood, and he showed off his best form on Saturday, birdie-wise.

Justin Thomas, a man with a 100% record in singles, wins three of his three matches, while Fleetwood, who also has a 100% record, is in second place.

With one win out of three, Patrick Cantlay will face Ludvig Aberg, who has not had the best of weeks. He has won two matches in his previous singles matches.

Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm are the other two standout matches. Rahm has looked back to his best this week, picking up three points, while Schauffele is the only other US player to score two.