Ryder Cup 2023: Europe 10½-5½ USA - day two, as it happened (2024)

Now it’s Jon Rahm’s turn to take a bow, because he comes about the width of three dimples away from acing 17! He sends a gentle draw straight at the flag. It lands six feet short of the flag, takes a couple of little skips to the left, and rolls out to six inches! That’s a pick-up birdie … but not a certain win, because Patrick Cantlay, the USA’s backs to the wall, flings a dart of his own to five feet! Big chance to take this down 18 … though it’ll be a comprehensive stress-test of Xander Schauffele’s mettle, given the short putt he missed at the previous hole.

The afternoon pairings have been announced. Here’s the draw. No Scottie Scheffler, no Brooks Koepka, no surprise there.

• Viktor Hovland / Ludvig Aberg v Sam Burns / Collin Morikawa

• Tommy Fleetwood / Nicolai Hojgaard v Max Homa / Brian Harman

• Justin Rose / Robert MacIntyre v Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth

• Matt Fitzpatrick / Rory McIlroy v Patrick Cantlay / Wyndham Clark

Take a bow, Tyrrell Hatton! He slides a confident right-to-left slider into the centre of the cup. Birdie! He holds a fist of triumph in the air, and his partner Jon Rahm nods his gratitude. You got us out of a hole there, partner. Xander Schauffele’s putt suddenly looks a whole lot longer, and he’s already buckled in this exact situation once this week, yesterday in the foursomes on 15. Now he does exactly the same thing again, pulling a nervous one wide left! Europe go one up again, with just two holes to play. Huge par three coming up!

1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (16)
Europe 8½-2½ USA

This is such a crucial match. That explains the amount of time Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay (let’s cut him some slack in these circ*mstances) take to size up their chips. Cantlay eventually wedges aggressively, the ball nearly clanking into the flagstick but eventually sailing four feet past. Work to be done there. Over to Rahm, who bumps carelessly 12 feet past. The only good thing about that chip is that Hatton will be putting first, and if he sinks it, the pressure will be piled onto Schauffele. But this is very much advantage USA, and their fans, who haven’t had too much to sing about, are in good voice right now.

Schauffele and Hatton take turns to cream their 3-woods to the edge of the 16th green. Chipping and putting contest coming up!

Hatton can’t make it, though. What he assumed to be a left-to-right breaker stays straight, and he chunters on to himself in irritation. As well he might, because his mistake from the centre of the fairway has cost Europe the chance of winning that hole. Cantlay walks in the USA’s putt, and bogey is good enough for the tie. Big opportunity spurned.

Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (15)
Europe 8½-2½ USA

Schauffele hits a crisp, clever chip up the bank and onto the green, using the camber as a backstop. The ball rolls back round to 12 feet. That’s a brilliant effort from where he was. Rahm then flops up to a similar distance. Hatton will have a putt to win the hole.

Cantlay can’t muscle America’s third onto the green. It bounds off to the right, stopping just short of a bunker in the second cut. Schauffele will have to get this chip close if the USA are to ask any serious question of Rahm and Hatton’s scrambling skills.

Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (14)
Europe 8½-2½ USA

Having hauled themselves back into the anchor match, Team USA immediately make a big mistake. Cantlay pulls his drive at 15 towards a tree down the right. Schauffele can only hack out of the tangled hell he finds himself, and advance the ball into more rough. It’s a bit lighter down there, is the best reading of that situation. Rahm meanwhile had found the fairway … but Hatton pulls his second into the rough to the left of the green, so the US aren’t out of this yet.

Just the one match left out on the course now, and it’s three holes in a row for Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele! Jon Rahm leaves Tyrrell Hatton atop a grassy knoll by the side of 14, and getting up and down is essentially a pipe dream. Europe were three up with seven holes to play; now they’re all square and the USA now have a very real opportunity to get out of this session level.

2&1 McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (F)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 4&2 (F)
Rahm/Hatton A/S Cantlay/Schauffele (14)
Europe 8½-2½ USA

Justin Thomas chips up to a couple of feet. The putt isn’t conceded. Tommy Fleetwood, up against the fringe, then rolls a hysterical putt downhill and 12 feet past the pin. All of a sudden, what looked like a lost cause for Team USA is back on. But only for a moment. Will they be going up 18? Nope. Rory McIlroy, who has missed a few putts today, nails one when it’s really needed. He guides in the slight right-to-left slider for the win and the match! Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood beat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 2&1.

Team USA puts its first point on the board! They do it in style, too, Max Homa walking in a downhill right-to-left chip from the fringe at 16. Homa and Brian Harman exploded into life after the turn, and they’ve blown Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka away. Max Homa and Brian Harman beat Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka 4&2.

Another big rules brouhaha involving Thomas and Spieth. Just like back on 6, they’re claiming an embedded lie, and just like back on 6, they don’t like the ruling the referee makes. Spieth can only whip violently out of the jungle-themed garbage and hope for the best. The ball rolls off the other side of the green, and the USA are up against both the fringe, and it.

1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (16)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (15)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (13)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

More trenchant language from JT. He calls himself an “effing dickhe*d” as he carves his tee shot into thick rubbish up a bank to the right of 17. That could potentially be the match if Rory can send his tee shot close … which he sort of does, finding the fringe at the back, 25 feet from the pin. Only just, mind, his ball landing in the thick stuff before taking a friendly bounce back out. Meanwhile Brian Harman walks in a par putt for a half that puts the USA dormie three in the third match, while Xander Schauffele does likewise on 13 to further eat into Europe’s lead in the anchor game.

1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (16)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (15)
1UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (13)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

Rory can’t get close with his chip from the back of 16. Thomas can from the front, though, and Europe’s lead in this to-and-fro match is reduced to one hole. The USA snatch one back in the anchor game, too, as Cantlay fizzes a long iron at the par-five 12th to four feet. Schauffele tidies up for eagle.

1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (16)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (14)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (12)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

Poor Scottie Scheffler. He’s taken that record beating hard. Now sat on the sidelines supporting his team-mates, he’s pictured looking a bit teary, his wife Meredith consoling him. The USA might be playing badly, but it’s not as though they don’t care passionately. Hard to watch such a decent and likeable young man so upset. Here’s to his enjoying better days again soon.

Birdie for Rahm and Hatton on the short par-four 11th. They re-establish a three-hole lead in the anchor game. Over to another short par-four, and on 16 Fleetwood crashes his tee shot onto the green. The ball bounds through the back and disappears into cabbage. Spieth responds by sending a gentle fade towards the front of the green. Just off. Advantage USA, who will have by far the easier chip.

2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (15)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (14)
3UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (11)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

Tommy Fleetwood finds the middle of the 15th green. Jordan Spieth, in knee-high nonsense, can only dump America’s approach into greenside filth. Not the worst lie for Justin Thomas, though with a bunker very close by, his stance is awkward. He grips down on the shaft and punches out … but not with enough power, and the ball breaks off to the left, well away from the hole. Plenty of work still to do there as Rory McIlroy examines the putt that’d win the hole. He’s missed a couple of short-ish ones today … but now he drains a 30-foot left-to-right slider for birdie to pull two clear again. Cue more effing and jeffing: “Effing come on!” he screams at top volume. Poor Sky Sports. They mean well!

Max Homa and Brian Harman are showing the sort of fight lacking in so much of the USA’s play so far this week. Sepp Straka nearly aces 13 – it’s a pick-up birdie – but Homa clacks his tee shot pin high to six feet, and Harmon rolls in the hole saver. Europe will have fancied their chances of eating into the deficit there, but that’s a huge blow to them with holes running out.

1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (14)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (13)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (10)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

The players have all week been effing and jeffing like Alexei Sayle on the b-side of the Ullo John! Gotta New Motor 12-inch. A niche reference perhaps, but there it is. Justin Thomas channels his inner Mr Sweary by spitting EFF at great volume. The Sky commentators have had a lot of apologising to do this week. Anyway, that’s because he’s carved his tee shot at 15 off into trouble down the right, a big mistake with the USA having hauled themselves back into the match. Europe are on the short stuff.

Lowry gives his long birdie putt on 12 a good run, but it slips wide left, and that’s three holes in a row for Team USA. Homa and Harman gracefully pulling away from Lowry and Straka. Meanwhile that eagle-eagle trade on 12 has clearly rattled McIlroy and Fleetwood: Spieth nearly drains his long birdie effort, McIlroy can’t make his monster par putt to save the day, and the European pair look slightly concerned as they walk off to the next tee. Spieth and JT have a renewed spring in their step.

1UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (14)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 3UP (12)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (10)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

Max Homa nearly holes out from 150 yards at 12! It’s a pick-up birdie. Sepp Straka’s approach into the heart of the green is decent, but Shane Lowry will need to rake in a 30-footer to stop Europe falling three holes behind. And more American momentum news on 14, with Thomas and Spieth on in two, McIlroy and Fleetwood having taken one more after hacking their way through the rough.

Tell you what, that eagle putt of Jordan Spieth’s on 12 could be huge momentum shifter! Because having stopped Europe going four up with six to play, he’s now rattled in a 15-foot left-to-right drifter for birdie on 13, and suddenly the lead match is back on. Elsewhere, it’s back-to-back birdies for Homa and Harman at 10 and 11, and birdie for Cantlay and Schauffele on 9. Has the electrifying shock of that 9&7 rout sparked the USA into some kind of rearguard action?

2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (13)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 2UP (11)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (9)
Europe 7½-1½ USA

9&7 though! To put that into context, the previous biggest margin of victory in a Ryder Cup foursomes match was 7&6, a result recorded by …

• Tom Kite and Hale Irwin v Ken Brown and Des Smyth (1979)

• Mark O’Meara and Paul Azinger v Nick Faldo and David Gilford (1991)

• Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson v Luke Donald and Lee Westwood (2012)

Those were all USA wins. Europe’s previous best result was 7&5, achieved by

• José Rivero and José Maria Cañizares v Tom Kite and Calvin Peete (1985)

• Ian Woosnam and Bernhard Langer v Paul Azinger and Payne Stewart (1993)

… so this is a comprehensive rewriting of the record books. Where’s Spartacus Mills when you need him?

So here’s how outrageous that scoreline is. Up on 12, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth trade putts to half the hole in eagle … and it almost seems like an afterthought. It’s worth stating again: Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg have just seen off the world number one Scottie Scheffler and the five-time major champion Brooks Koepka 9&7.

3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (12)
9&7 Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (F)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (10)
3UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (8)

The jig as good as up, Brooks Koepka wonders if he can be bothered to walk down the swale to take his shot. He eventually heads over, and soon perhaps wishes that he didn’t, flashing the ball miles past the hole. His and Scheffler’s performance has been as inept as Hovland and Aberg’s was brilliant. In that sense it’s half and half, if you will. Arnold Palmers all round! Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg beat Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9&7.

Brooks Koepka sends a flyer out of a bunker. Scottie Scheffler bashes out of the rough he’s in, but the ball topples off down a swale. They’re on the verge of a 9&7 shellacking!

“sh*t!” There’s no other word for it, apologies kids. That’s the one uttered by Scottie Scheffler as he carves one miles right on the 11th tee. That ball’s heading for trouble, and Scheffler and Brooks Koepka are heading for an unwanted spot in the record books. Meanwhile another birdie for Rahm and Hatton, this time on 8, and Europe are taking control of the anchor match. The USA are neck-deep in some very unwelcome matter.

3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (11)
8UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (10)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (9)
3UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (8)

Team USA take one step forward, two steps back. Brian Harman’s bunker shot at 9 doesn’t go close. Max Homa nearly drains a mid-range par putt, but the teams are all-square again in match three. Then Thomas and Spieth manage to combine to birdie 11 … only problem being, Rory McIlroy had creamed his tee shot at the driveable par-four to 15 feet, and Tommy Fleetwood rolls in the eagle putt! And on 10, Brooks Koepka drives into rough. Team USA out of position, Viktor Hovland applies boot pressure to the neck by flinging a dart to ten feet, and all of a sudden Europe are dormie eight. This is preposterous.

3UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (11)
8UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (10)
Lowry/Straka A/S Homa/Harman (9)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (6)

We’re currently in a position where the USA need the Europeans to make mistakes. Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood oblige on 10. The former dunks carelessly into a greenside bunker, the latter only just escapes it, leaving the ball in the thick rough on the shoulder. Hole to USA. On Sky, the 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem emits the most irony-drenched “woo-hoo!” in the entire history of human emotion.

2UP McIlroy/Fleetwood v Thomas/Spieth (10)
7UP Hovland/Aberg v Scheffler/Koepka (9)
Lowry/Straka v Homa/Harman 1UP (8)
2UP Rahm/Hatton v Cantlay/Schauffele (6)