Europe ends historic day at Ryder Cup with magical performances on No. 18

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy – Europe’s Ryder Cup team is known for impressive efficiency and data-driven analysis, but it also is wise enough to not downplay golf’s spiritual side. That’s the reason for all the inspirational videos and small gestures intended to strengthen the bonds between this year’s team and its predecessors.

It is easy to dismiss this sentimentality – such as the locker set aside for Seve Ballesteros in this year’s European team room – in a game that, at its core, is defined by the objective. But then there are moments like Friday, when the inexplicable happened on Marco Simone Golf & Country Club’s 18th green. Just when it looked like the lead Europe had built with its dominance earlier in the day was about to suffer a significant dent, three strokes reversed the Ryder Cup’s course and allowed Europe to relish in a historic margin.

Europe finished Friday by making two birdies and an eagle on Marco Simone’s 18th hole to salvage a tie in three of the four Four-ball matches. It allowed Europe to end the day with a 6.5-1.5 lead, tying the largest lead ever held after the Ryder Cup’s first day. Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland made long, curling putts while Justin Rose, the team’s wily veteran, wedged it close on the par 5 before holing a 9-foot birdie putt with the day’s final stroke.

“What we did going down 18 just shows the determination, the grit, the perseverance, kind of the unity of our team,” said European Captain Luke Donald. “They never gave up, and they kept pushing united the very end.”

Rose celebrated the putt by extending his index finger and jabbing it toward each of his teammates, shouting, “You!” at each one of them. It emphasized the ethos of the European squad. Rose knew the significance of the stroke, but also recognized that it was his European teammates who’d made this historic moment possible.

“Everyone is in it together,” Rose said. “Made the putt because I had 10 people willing it in behind me. Yeah, it's for them, as well.”

It was another memorable moment in Rose’s long Ryder Cup career, reminiscent of the 10-footer he made to win his Singles match against Phil Mickelson during the “Miracle at Medinah” in 2012. Rose, 43, is playing alongside new teammates on a European side that is missing several players who formed its core over the past two decades. Rory McIlroy is the only player on this European Team with whom Rose has played in multiple Ryder Cups before this year.

Each new face that enters Europe’s locker room quickly becomes immersed in the team’s culture, though, and that was evident minutes earlier when Rahm’s rookie teammate inspired him by invoking the memory of the patriarch for this collection of the continent’s best players.

“What would Seve do?” asked Nicolai Højgaard before Rahm slammed his 30-foot eagle putt into the hole, his ball bouncing off the lip and going airborne before falling into the hole.

“I don't know if he would have quite made it like that,” Rahm said, “but I'm sure glad that it went in.”

This is the first time the United States has gone an entire day without winning a match. Europe swept the four Foursomes matches in the morning session, but it looked like the United States was going to draw closer in the afternoon. In the session’s first three matches, the U.S. stood on the 16th tee with a lead. They didn’t win any of those matches.

It started with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, one of the United States’ stalwart teams. They’d surprisingly sat out the first session but were 2-up in the second session’s opening match after Spieth’s birdie on the par-3 13th. The match was tied, however, after Thomas missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole. Thomas faced a birdie putt of similar length on the final hole, presumably to win the hole after neither of his opponents could hit their third shots close on the par 5. But then Hovland’s 25-foot birdie putt rolled up a ridge, slowed and took one final turn into the hole. Instead of winning the last hole, the best Thomas could do was tie the hole and the match.

“To hole putts like Viktor did, like Jon did, and of course Rosey, right at the end, that is huge,” said Donald. “It really looked like 3-1 at one point for the U.S. To win that session, when it looked like (the U.S. would win) 3-1, is an unbelievable feat by my guys.”

Rahm’s eagle and Rose’s birdie from 125 yards also meant their matches ended in ties. The afternoon’s other match was a 5-and-3 victory by Europe’s McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.

The day couldn’t have ended any better for the home team, which is looking to extend a three-decade-long winning streak on home soil. After losing the Ryder Cup by 10 points two years ago, Europe returned serve with its own historic performance Friday.

As the sun set on Marco Simone and fans streamed off the course, speakers blared an appropriate anthem: Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”