Viktor Hovland reacts to his birdie putt dropping on the 18th hole during the Friday afternoon session of the Ryder Cup.
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ROME — Those poor fans waiting for hours behind the 18th hole, assured their patience would bring four-ball matches to their doorstep, unobstructed? They deserve your pity.
By the time the chaos of this Ryder Cup finally reached them — around 5:30 p.m. local time in Italy — hundreds of cameramen, media, wives, family and friends suddenly blocked their view, muddling up the space inside the ropes. It’s tough being a fan at this event, with so few golfers in front of you and so many others milling about, but the good news for the poor folks surrounding the 18th came not in the form of a clear view of three indelible Ryder Cup moments, but rather in the joyful delight of a burly, sun-kissed Irishman prancing about like he’d won the lottery.
Shane Lowry had planted himself on one knee, just up the 18th fairway, when Viktor Hovland’s 26-foot birdie yanked him up on his feet and sent him tearing down the hole toward the green. Lowry ran with both fists clenched and crow-hopped into a jab punch, as if he’d just scored a goal in the Champions League. This scene wasn’t soccer but it was as close as golf will ever get. Hovland’s putt ensured a birdie 4 against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, and, at worst, a halved match in the first afternoon four-ball session. Europe 4.5, U.S. 0.5.
A number of those poor fans behind the 18th had traveled from Liverpool and jeered at those inside the ropes ahead of them. “We’ve been ‘ere two howahs,” they said, draping an Everton Football Club flag across the iron bars in front of them. They didn’t see all of the action during Hovland’s birdie but they weren’t upset for long as fellow Everton fans Tommy Fleetwood and his caddie, Ian Finnis, were now draping their arms around them for a picture.
Photos with the band, while the action is happening? That happens when you’re up big. Or when you know you’re about to be up big. When it seems nothing can go wrong.
“We’re noht leaven!” the spectators screamed out now, no longer upset. If they didn’t mean it then, they would about 10 minutes later, when Jon Rahm’s eagle putt rolled and rolled for 33 feet before ramming into the back of the jar, plopping up and back down. Shooter’s touch is what they call it. Another halved match, this one more of a stolen half from Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler, who had been 1 up. Rahm could barely believe his eyes, but perhaps he should have since he played 33 holes of golf Friday while barely making a mistake. His 7.25 strokes gained (according to DataGolf) led all parties involved. He chipped in three times and nearly made an ace.
This time, Lowry was skipping around the back of the green with a few more leaping fist-pumps. Again, the only people who make these moves famous are footballers. And apparently golfers during the last weekend of September. Did he notice he was prancing around directly in front of a now-very-dejected American team? Probably not. But that’s your right when your team plays well and the other team plays like the Americans did Friday. Not well enough.
From Euro captain Luke Donald’s perspective, the Rahm eagle was a bit lucky. Of course it was. But luck wins Ryder Cups. Luck lights analytics reports on fire and tortures good juju and, clearly, helps topple unbeatable American partnerships. And it makes it plenty okay that hundreds of people were ruining the view of hundreds of others.
“Certainly midway through the back nine, it got a bit quiet,” Donald said Friday evening. A 5-3 overnight score was looking likely. “You could tell with the energy it changed a little bit, and some of the guys that weren’t playing in the afternoon, it was their job to look into the crowd’s eyes and get the crowd going a bit, to get our guys over the line, which they did.”
And then some. But ask the Euros catching their breath behind 18 if they thought 6.5-1.5 was possible and they wouldn’t have believed it. Justin Rose had been pulling Bob MacIntyre across the back nine against Max Homa and Wyndham Clark, and Clark was 30 yards ahead in the fairway. But as was the trend for Team USA, by the time they had putters in hand, the Americans were out of the running and Rose was the last one with a chance to make anything happen.
From nine feet away, Rose did exactly as Hovland and Rahm did, grabbing a half point when the Americans had left it on the table. According to golf statistician Justin Ray, it was the first time Europe has ever kept the U.S. from winning a match on a full day in the history of the event.
Once again, there was a guttural scream. This time from Rose himself, who admitted that in his storied Ryder Cup career, there haven’t been many moments. This was his moment.
Instead of finding Lowry this time, you wanted to look at the Americans instead. Only there was nothing to look at. Blank faces. Empty, spacey stares. The way an NFL team looks like when they’ve lost to a 55-yard field goal in overtime. Golf has a way of doing that, because so much of this sport is improbable, right up until the moment it’s not. Parlay the probabilities of Hovland’s, Rahm’s and Rose’s putts dropping and you’re looking at a likelihood of less than 1%. But it happened, and those fans behind 18 were partying.
The European players and caddies reveled in it, as they should, being serenaded with every step they took back to the clubhouse. The Americans took a few more steps. Jordan Spieth visited the range. Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka did, too. Xander Schauffele took to the putting green. Searching for something a lot better tomorrow.
Sean Zak is a writer at GOLF Magazine and just published his first book, which follows his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.
