From tears in 2021 to elation in 2025, Rory McIlroy felt Europe used the hurt of their record breaking defeat four years ago to secure a first away Ryder Cup victory since 2012 at Bethpage Black.
McIlroy might have lost his singles tie to Scottie Scheffler but Shane Lowry earned the point to retain the Ryder Cup and Tyrrell Hatton ensured Europe notched an away win for the fifth time since 1979.
“I’m extremely proud to be a part of this team,” McIlroy declared. “I’m extremely proud of every single one of the players, the VCs, the captain, all the back room support staff
“This was an unbelievable collective effort. As soon as we won in Rome, we turned our attention to trying to do something that everyone thought was pretty impossible to do. Not just win in America, but win here in New York, it’s just been an amazing week.”
The last time Europe touched down on US soil they suffered a record breaking 19-9 defeat to a youthful USA side captained by Steve Stricker.
It could be argued that it was the best thing that happened to McIlroy. Since then he has competed to win all four majors, won the Masters to complete the career grand slam and now won an away Ryder Cup for the second time in his career.
“Just to hear the olé olés here in America, honestly, to do something that a lot of people thought that we couldn’t do what with the comments and what people were saying after Whistling Straits about this decades of American dominance,” he said.
“We took a lot from that. We let that fuel us. And we got so lucky in getting an incredible leader in Luke Donald. He shepherded us through this whole process, and he’s been absolutely amazing. A lot of the credit has to go down to him. He’s an incredible leader.”
Europe won the Ryder Cup 13-15 despite winning just one singles match on Sunday.
A sensational USA fightback saw them win the singles session 8-3 after being swept 4-0 in the previous sessions.
“Well, they’re tough group, and we we didn’t play our best the first couple days,” Bradley said of his team. “We did today. “That was a really fun day. We had all of our fun in one day here at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.”
A tearful Scottie Scheffler praised Bradley’s leadership despite winning one of five matches.
“Yeah, probably, of course, I think I would have set the course up a little different, but I don’t know. They played better than us. They deserve to win.”
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