Archive September 28, 2025

After a frantic afternoon in a chilly New York, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry finally realized how loved they were as they celebrated a point that brought Europe closer to a notable Ryder Cup victory.

And it was ultimately down to the pair, who rarely rose to the challenge and let their golf do the talking.

McIlroy and Lowry were abused inappropriately by the home fans who disrespected golfing etiquette by shouting out as they were about to hit their ball, which crossed the line at Bethpage in terms of romantic relationships and appearance.

On the tenth tee, Lowry was prevented from confronting a fan. The entire experience was described as “really challenging day,” according to McIlroy, who had to back away from the shots.

According to European captain Luke Donald, “What I consider crossing the line is personal insults and making sounds when they are trying to hit on their backswings or very close to when they are trying to enter their routines.”

“A little bit, I must say. It has also occurred at other Ryder Cups.

We made plans ahead of it, and I can tell how skillfully McIlroy and Lowry handled it.

The close friends fought back from the Bethpage bear pit with a crucial fourball win, putting Europe in a commanding 1122-4112 lead heading into Sunday’s 12 singles, knowing that 141 is the key to victory.

McIlroy and Lowry finally broke free emotionally after winning on the 18th green, holding each other tightly in a vice-like grip before demonstrating their joy as they did on the green.

Lowry said, “We knew what we were going to get here.”

It was a very difficult day, they said. It’s not made any easier by Rory’s company that you hang out. He is, in my opinion, bearing the brunt.

“But look, we handled it very well,” he said.

As they came within three points of their first away victory since 2012, the continued abuse overshadowed one of Europe’s most outstanding days on American soil.

There were a number of unfavorable exchanges, with McIlroy, the sport’s top golf player, taking the majority of the prize.

It started out unanticipated. Before the opening tee-shot at 7:10am local time, a Bethpage MC began a verbal and abusive chant directed at the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland.

McIlroy grinned as hundreds of home fans gave him directions and gave them kisses in response.

However, the exchange established the day’s tone. At the conclusion of his morning foursomes win, McCilroy lost his cool and began swearing at American fans while arguing on the 16th fairway.

In the afternoon fourballs, things got more heated because some of the crowd members were fueled by all-day drinking.

Before turning into a tinderbox on the par-five fourth green, the atmosphere persisted for the first few holes.

After a shout interrupted his focus, McIlroy backed off a putt for an eagle three. Lowry honed his chance, but he missed out on the opportunity, and he then ejected with a passionate and pointed celebration toward the violator.

When Lowry made a fifth-placed putt, he let go with another vocal celebration. Only his father, Brendan, a sidekick, yelled louder.

When McIlroy backed off another putt, things started to rekindle on the sixth green. “Can’t take it, Rory? ‘” one New Yorker snagged.

This was all fair game, according to a crowd in a city known for its brash and harsh sports fans.

The exasperated European couple and vice-captain Eduardo Molinari were already directing offenders to the police, who clearly had stepped up their pressure in a bid to saunter the tension.

When they won holes seven and nine, American rivals Justin Thomas and Cameron Young sensibly appealed for calm but also sparked emotions with wild celebrations to bring the tension back to life.

On large screens throughout the course, messages warning fans of a “zero tolerance approach to abusive shouting” were displayed with the words “continue to closely monitor fan behavior and take appropriate action”

One of these reminders was booed by American fans around the 11th green shortly after Lowry lunged toward the fan on the 10th tee.

An attritional match with higher quality but more grind at this point remained unsolvable.

On the 14th, McIlroy finally took control and won a birdie that would not relinquish.

Stronger clouds were already forming over Bethpage by the time they had figured out how to navigate themselves to the 18th. The metaphor was succinct.

In the grandstand behind the final green, two spectators fist fightped, and the mood became darker.

Police quickly entered and expelled the violators. No arrests have been made over the course of a fiery day, according to the officers’ statement to BBC Sport.

On the 18th green, McIlroy said, “I’m going to sleep well tonight.”

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.

The comparisons were unavoidable.

Similarity can be drawn between Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler’s dominance at the top of the men’s game, which was insurmountable with her dominance as the world no.1 and her relentless victories at the majors and her PGA Tour success.

Another similarity between the two American superstars is still present at Bethpage: struggling in Ryder Cup pairings.

Scheffler won the foursomes and fourballs on Friday, and the same thing happened again on Saturday.

The 29-year-old has now lost all four of his matches in the alternate shot format, winning only six of the 59 holes he has played.

He becomes the second American to lose a match in each of the first four Ryder Cup matches, joining the late Peter Alliss.

In 1967, Englishman Alliss, who later gained fame as a broadcaster, lost four straight matches at Houston, playing for more than six years.

American journalist Alex Miceli claimed that his foursome play is “absolutely atrocious” and that there is no justification for it.

“There is no denying that he will eventually figure it out,” he said, “but still, in 2025, he still hasn’t figured it out.”

Scheffler made his Ryder Cup debut in 2021, but he lost in two significant matches in 2023.

Before being mauled by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg on Saturday, Scheffler and Sam Burns suffered a record 9& 7 loss to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton on Friday in Rome, which brought Scheffler to tears.

Every year, Europe has looked to a talisman to support its Ryder Cup bid, starting with Seve Ballesteros in the 1980s and Rory McIlroy in the present day.

Even Woods, not even Woods, has never been able to provide such a leader for the United States.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the 15-time major champion elevated golf to a new level, ensuring that he continues to be the game’s preeminent superstar.

Woods, however, won only 39% of his matches and was only a member of one triumphant Ryder Cup team.

He lost nine of his final foursomes, losing only four of them.

Why ? One theory is that Woods and Scheffler are unable to turn their unyielding behavior into a game in which they rely on their playing partner.

In all his pomp, Woods appeared to be a lone wolf. He won four of his six matches in the singles and lost two.

In either of his two singles matches so far, he has won against the Spaniard in Rome and defeated Rahm as an unheralded rookie in the 2021 victory over Whistling Straits.

In Sunday’s singles at Bethpage, he will have a chance to match McIlroy for the record he already has set against him.

In his pre-tournament press conference, Scheffler stated, “I’d like to think that I’m not difficult to pair with people.”

“I’ve worked with a few different partners over the years and had some success.” I would never fit into that category, in my opinion.

Another theory that Woods and Scheffler’s quartet struggles is that their team-mates can’t cope with expectation.

Scheffler, a four-time major winner who is always trying to highlight his bloke-next-door persona, has a less intimidating demeanor than Woods.

He does, however, share the same lofty standards as him when it comes to golf.

However, only 36% of the Ryder Cup field’s players have won since 1999, making up the top-ranked team.

They put a lot of pressure on themselves, and Scheffler claims that he doesn’t think about it because he thinks about it all the time, according to Miceli.

Scottie is a different kind of person than Tiger, who didn’t care that much.

Scheffler is, of course, solely to blame for the defeats.

Russell Henley, a foursomes partner, struggled against European pair Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick on Friday in a 4&amp, 3 loss.

And Scheffler and Henley still lost despite Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre going to the 18th green on Saturday.

Henley has looked shaky in his Ryder Cup debut despite being third in a world ranking system with LIV golfers out.

Scheffler was unable to rescue them from trouble on any occasion despite the fact that their game relies heavily on consistent driving and metronomic irons.

Along with debutant JJ Spaun, he had no fun in the fourballs on Friday when Rahm and Sepp Straka defeated them 3&2, 2 respectively.

He and Bryson DeChambeau teamed up for Saturday’s fourballs, but Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, the country’s most renowned duo, couldn’t compete.

Scheffler claimed that he and DeChambeau “played some good music” “as a difficult matchup” against Rose and Fleetwood.

They put in a lot of putts, and that is really what they did, he said. “They played better than we did,” he said.

An American victory on Sunday would make for a fantastic comeback story, according to Scheffler, who added that “anything can happen.”