United States win 2016 Ryder Cup

USA celebrate their success at Hazeltine

Team U.S.A clinched the 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, lifting the trophy for the first time in eight years.  

Wildcard pick Ryan Moore sealed the job for the hosts as he secured the decisive point after beating European Ryder Cup veteran Lee Westwood.

Europe went into the singles with dreams of another miracle of Medinah and while Clarke’s team started brightly once Team U.S.A had the wind in their sails and the scoreboard started to turn red, it was almost as if Davis Love III had written the script himself.

How the day unfolded:

Henrik Stenson got the ball rolling and put the first points of the day on the board for Clarke’s team when Jordan Spieth conceded on the 16^th, after getting in trouble having found the water hazard.

A great start for soon turned sour as Patrick Reed saw off Rory McIlroy after a thrilling encounter that produced some spectacular golf as the duo exchanged birdies all the way down to the 18^th with Reed writing himself into the Ryder Cup history books and building vital momentum with the red ranks at Hazeltine.

Thomas Pieters has been a joy to watch this weekend he secured a 3 & 2 singles win over J.B Holmes to be the first rookie to record four points at a Ryder Cup and his success was followed by another Europe victory as Rafa Cabera Bello triumphed 3 & 2 over USPGA champion Jimmy Walker.

While Europe were putting points on the board, the stars were aligning for the Americans with Justin Rose falling to Rickie Fowler by one hole after a frustrating afternoon with the putter and Danny Willett suffering a 5 & 4 defeat to Brooks Koepka.

Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson halved after an epic tussle but when Andy Sullivan fell 3 & 1 to Brandt Snedker the writing was on the wall before Moore sealed the victory making it 15-10 in the American’s favour.

The result was safe, the hurt was over for Team USA but matches were still in play and the first to conclude after the job was done saw Matthew Fitzpatrick beaten 4 & 3 by Zach Johnson making it 16-10.

Chris Wood put up a spirited fight against World Number Two Dustin Johnson but in the end Wood ended up one down having held his own for large parts of their match.

Martin Kaymer offered some late resilience for Clarke’s team, the German he recovered from falling three behind after seven holes to beat Matt Kuchar by one hole, meaning the final score was Team U.S.A 17 – Team Europe 11.