The United States almost pulled off a miracle at Bethpage State Park on Sunday, but in the end lost the Ryder Cup 15-13 to Team Europe.
The Americans secured eight points on Sunday out of a possible 12, but fell short to the front-running Europeans. The United States won six singles matches and tied five, but needed to win those halved matches to take the Cup.
Captain Keegan Bradley's United States team fought valiantly on Sunday, but could not overcome the tremendous hole they dug themselves into with poor performances on Friday and Saturday.
The Europeans clinched retention of the Cup when Shane Lowry nailed a six-foot putt for the 14th point. However, the Americans would not give up. It was not until Tyrrell Hatton squared his match against Collin Morikawa that the Europeans would win the tournament.
“I said, ‘I have a chance to do the coolest thing of my life here.’ And like, the Ryder Cup means everything to me, honestly. I’ve won The Open in Ireland," Lowry said on NBC during an on-course interview after his winning putt. "It’s amazing. It’s a dream come true. But the Ryder Cup for me is everything.”
Lowry was very respectful for the United States team and gave credit where it was due. No team in Ryder Cup history battled back like the Americans did on Sunday.
"The U.S. team are 12 amazing players, and we knew it was going to be very hard," Lowry said. "I didn't envision myself going up the 18th needing a birdie to retain the Ryder Cup."
This is the first time the Ryder Cup was won by the visiting team since 2012. The Europeans have now won the last two Cup tournaments, six of the last eight and 11 of the last 15.
Before the matches even started shortly past noon on Sunday, each team was awarded a half a point as Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw due to injury. According to captain's rules, his match with Harris English was halved. Hovland had a neck injury which he aggravated on Saturday. An MRI Saturday evening showed he would not be good to play on Sunday.
American and world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler defeated Rory McIlroy in singles on Sunday to collect his first victory of the tournament. He had gone 0-4 in the first four sessions. He could have been a difference maker in the United States' team performance.
“I think it's hard to put into words how much it hurts to lose all four matches,” Scheffler said, according to the PGA Tour website. “To have the trust of my captains and teammates to go out there and play all four matches and lose all four, it's really hard to put into words how much that stings and hurts.”
Scheffler was conciliatory after the tournament and praised his teammates for their dramatic comeback on Sunday. He also said his performance was one of the lowest points o his otherwise extremely successful career.
“The guys on this team, this is a really special group of guys. We have a special captain, and I was proud to be standing there fighting with these guys today,” Scheffler said. “I think it showed a lot about our team. I think it showed a lot about the job all these guys did to put us in a position to succeed.“I can't tell you how much fun it was watching Bryson in front of me, hitting those putts coming back from 5-down, walking down 17 and seeing JT hole the putt, walking down 16, hearing the roar for Cam (Young).
“I can't tell you how much I needed these guys this week, and it's just a really special group. It was probably one of the lowest moments of my career, but it turned out to be one of the most special just because I've got great friends in this room and I was really proud to be battling with these guys for three days.”