It was the 42nd Ryder Cup, the first ever to be staged in France, that Team USA had entered the fray as red-hot favourites for the first time in a generation. The American wiped-out 0–4 on the Friday foursomes. They failed to measure up in the crucial Sunday Singles, losing 7.5 to 4.5 pts. Woods – hero one week, zero the next - failing to register a single point for Team USA in four matches. Phil Mickelson stood down for two vital Saturday foursomes and fourballs similarly drawing a blank, no points from two matches.
And it was widely felt that Team USA, as favourites and holders – meaning they only needed a 14–14 pts tie to retain the small gold cup – had too much firepower for an inexperienced European team under a captain few had faith in.
However, Europe’s go-to men, Ian Pouter, Henrik Stenson and Sergio García, those battle-hardened Ryder Cup warriors all contributed heavily to the winning 17.5 points in total. So as did Italian Francesco Molinari, who became the first European to play five - win five - in what was a crucial contribution from the best player in world golf right now, bar none.
Defeated captain Jim Furyk was magnanimous in defeat, saying at the official post-match press conferences, “Hats off to what they accomplished this week, Thomas (Bjørn) did a great job as captain, players on their team, class acts, and gritty,” adding, “When we put some heat on them early this afternoon, they responded. They played some great golf this week, and I take my cap off, their team out-played us, and there's nothing else more you can say, they deserved to win, they played well.”
Masters champion Patrick Reed, reported to be less-than-popular in the PGA TOUR locker-room was first to break USA ranks to tell the media, "I was looking at (Jordan) like I was about to light the room up like Phil in ’14,” adding, “Every day, I saw ‘Leave your egos at the door’, but they (the Europeans) do that better than us.”
Reed was also unhappy that Furyk sat him out for two sessions. "For somebody as successful in the Ryder Cup as I am, I don’t think it’s smart to sit me twice,” the reigning Masters champion said.
