European triumph is within reach… but this is golf. It only needs a third of the twelve points at stake in the decisive final round.
The United States cut the lead in the afternoon session thanks to two and a half points in the fourballs, with an exhibition by the Sam Burns-Collin Morikawa duo and Patrick Cantlay that leaves the scoreboard with a still bulky 10.5-5.5 for this Sunday, in favor of the Europeans, who are close to victory and revenge for last year’s edition after two very superior rounds.
After another overwhelming victory in the foursomes modality (3-1), Europe gave in the fourball modality with Jon Rahm as a spectator, a technical decision of the captain Luke Donald so that the ‘Lion of Barrika’ would arrive in full conditions to the decisive last day in which the 12 players of each team will be measured in individual duels.
“As a competitor you want to keep going, but a couple of teammates finished earlier and are more rested. Yesterday Tyrrell’s (Hatton) match with Viktor (Hovland) went all the way to 18 and mine went all the way to 18 with Nicolai (Hojgaard). It’s 35, 36 holes in a row, at high intensity,” he said at the end of his match.
Only four points, since the tie at 14 favors the United States, separate Europe, led by Spain’s Jon Rahm and Norway’s Viktor Hovland, from reconquering the Ryder Cup -after the painful defeat of 2021 on American soil- and keeping the European fiefdom intact for the third consecutive decade, since the United States has not won since 1993.
The American duo formed by Burns and Morikawa swept Norwegian Viktor Hovland and Swedish debutant Ludvig Aberg, who after signing the biggest victory in the history of the foursomes (9 and 7) in the morning round, only against the number 1, Scottie Scheffler, who ended frustrated and drenched in tears seeing the complicated situation that this result placed his team, fell by a resounding 4 and 3 (four ahead with three holes to go).
The Americans won seven holes (1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12) to the Europeans’ three (4, 13, 14), who could do little to stop the gale of Burns and Morikawa.
The team captained by Zach Jhonson also emerged victorious against Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Danish debutant Nicolai Hojgaard, in a match that took years off the lives of the Americans.
Because when Max Homa saw Fleetwood sign the ‘eagle’ on the 16th hole and kicked on the 17th to extend the duel to the last, he surely thought of the four-point lead that he and Brian Harman had achieved, but that was gradually reduced by the European duo, who came to dream of a comeback.
Slightly deflected to the right, Fleetwood’s ball that slowly made the Marco Simone of Rome, with a large European majority, hold its breath, became the perfect opportunity for Homa to round off his match. The American did not miss and closed the match with a 2 and 1 that gave the fourth point and a half to the red team.
British Justin Rose and Scot Robert MacIntyre were able to overcome the difficulties and twice responded to the onslaught of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth to then bring out their best version and go three up.
After recovering again and levelling the duel on Hole 9, MacIntyre and Rose accelerated to take the 10th, 13th and 14th and maintain the lead until the end, closing the first European victory of the afternoon with a 3 and 2 and leaving England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy the major duty of overcoming Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark to minimize damage.
But the evenly matched hole that closed the second day was for the Americans, who were never ahead on the scoreboard until the last hole, with Cantlay who was the absolute leader against the Europeans with three birdies in a row in the last three holes.
It was he who tied the match on the 11th hole and repeated the gesture on the 17th to extend the match when McIlroy and Fitzpatrick had it in their hands. Cantlay, without a cap all day, did not let it slip away and gave his team wings for the decisive day on Sunday.
United States seeks the feat in the individual duels. Rahm and Hovland look like the defenders of a lead that, although not definitive, is more than hopeful. Europe is looking for revenge and the title, the United States is dreaming of heroics.
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