Team Europe Holds off Team USA’s Fightback, Retains Ryder Cup with 15-13 Victory

Despite a valiant fightback from Team USA, Team Europe emerged as the winners of the 45th Ryder Cup, winning 15-13 to retain the trophy.

Team Europe Holds off Team USA’s Fightback, Retains Ryder Cup with 15-13 Victory

Team Europe wins Ryder Cup (Image via X/@DPWorldTour)

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The Ryder Cup trophy is heading back to Europe. On Sunday, Team Europe held on to their lead and fought off a great American fightback to win 15-13 and retain the Ryder Cup.

The visitors entered the Bethpage Black course as the defending champions, having won the 2023 edition in convincing fashion. Once again, they started off strong and took the opening four sessions and took to the field on Sunday while leading 11.5-5.5.

Before the start of the day, Norwegian international Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw from the singles action against Harris English due to a neck injury. As a result of the Envelope Rule introduced in 1979 to tackle such a situation where a player is unable to compete, both teams received half a point, while the match was halved.

The Americans needed to pull off one of the greatest comebacks to win from this position. Local hero Cameron Young got things going for his side as he took down veteran Justin Rose in the first match.

Justin Thomas then came from behind and defeated Tommy Fleetwood. The 2-time major champion came from 2 down by the 9th hole. A bogey from Fleetwood on the 10th hole was followed by birdies from Thomas on the 11th and 12th holes, which put him 1UP.

Fleetwood would tie it all up at the 13th hole with a birdie of his own. On the final hole, Thomas drained his birdie putt and earned an important point for the Americans.

Bryson DeChambeau then came back from being 5 down against Matt Fitzpatrick with 4 consecutive birdies from holes 12 to 15 and tied the match, with both sides earning a point.

The 4th matchup saw the top two golfers in the world take center stage. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy went back and forth in their duel. The World No.1 emerged victorious on this occasion and won his 1st match of this year’s edition after losing the previous 4.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg went on to beat Patrick Cantlay 2&1 in the 5th match. Xander Schauffele edged out Jon Rahm 4&3 while J.J. Spaun defeated Sepp Straka 2&1 to keep the hosts alive.

The matchup between Russell Henley and Shane Lowry decided the contest. As Henley missed his putts on the 17th and 18th holes, Lowry would sink a birdie on the final hole to earn half a point, which retained the Ryder Cup for Europe.

Ben Griffin went on to win against Rasmus Hojgaard, while the matchups between Colin Morikawa and Tyrrell Hatton and Sam Burns and Robert MacIntyre ended as ties. This saw the Europeans win the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup with a 15-13 score.

Despite earning record tying 8.5 points, Team USA falls short in 2025 Ryder Cup

After Team Europe took a commanding lead by the end of Day 2, Team USA needed a miracle. In the press conference, Captain Keegan Bradley would point out the New York Patriots’ 28-3 comeback in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons and expressed belief in his team in pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in golf.

2025 Ryder Cup captains Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald
Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald shaking hands after the 2025 Ryder Cup (Image via X/@RyderCupUSA)

They did start off well, and with 3 wins from the first 4 matches on Sunday, they did keep their hopes alive. Ludvig Aberg’s win against Patrick Cantlay took the steam out of their engine and put the Europeans closer to victory.

At the end of the day’s proceedings, Team USA earned 8.5 points by winning 6 and drawing 4 matches. The loss of Cantlay was the only loss they suffered on Sunday.

These 8.5 points were the joint-most points any team had earned in the modern era of the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately, they fell just short as they needed 1.5 more to complete an improbable comeback.

This win is Team Europe’s first Ryder Cup victory on American soil since 2012. They had lost on their previous two visits here.

The Ryder Cup will now head to Ireland as the two teams will compete at the Adare Manor in 2027. The Europeans would be hoping for a three-peat now, following back-to-back wins.

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