Europe Wins The 2014 Ryder Cup

Well it was definitely a Ryder Cup to remember filled with many ups and downs, but Europe wins the Ryder Cup for another two years, beating the US with a score of 16.5 to 11.5 at Gleneagles in Scotland. Their win was confirmed by European Rookie Jamie Donaldson, who put his second shot on the 16th hole to within two feet. US Competitor Keegen Bradley then conceeded the hole and thus giving Europe a total of 14.5 points and the win, in which they only needed 14 to retain the Cup.This is the third straight Ryder Cup that Europe has won.

This morning, the US was looking like they were going to make a good amount of points, but as we saw in the days before, Europe managed to find a way to make a comeback in most of the rounds that the US were leading. Here is a recap of today's singles matches (note that the matches are out of order):

1) Graeme McDowell VS Jordan Spieth > EUROPE 2&1
This was probably one of the most watched and anticipated matches today. From the start, it was looking bad for McDowell and Europe, as Spieth went 3UP through 5 holes. However an error by Spieth on the 10th sparked the start of a major comeback by GMac, who then went on to win the next four holes. As we've seen before, it was his putting that fueled his comeback. Another win on the 15th hole was good enough for the match to conclude at the end of the 17th hole. This is the GMac we all knew, the one who thrives and exceeds expectations even while under pressure.

2) Rory McIlroy VS Rickie Fowler > EUROPE 5&4
From the start of this match, Rory was on fire and and winning. By the 7th hole, he was 5UP and from there on until the end of the match (which was on the end of the 14th) Fowler only won a single hole (the 8th). Fowler wasn't playing bad golf, by as we saw just months ago on tour, Rory was playing just that much better. We saw in this match today who Rory is the #1 player in the world. Unfortunately this loss for Fowler means that he has never won a point for the US in all of the Ryder Cup career.

3) Henrik Stenson VS Patrick Reed > US 1UP
This was a good match played between two very good golfers. The match was back and forth all through 18 holes, but eventually Reed won it after Stenson missed a short putt on the 18th that would've halved the match. Reed was by far the most enthusiastic American this week. During his match today, after hitting a nice iron, he turned to the European crowd and put his finger to his mouth, shhhh-ing them. Reed was the only undefeated American this week, and that's saying a lot considering this was his first Ryder Cup.

4) Martin Kaymer VS Bubba Watson > EUROPE 4&2
This match showed us another European dominance by Kaymer. He was 4UP against Watson for the majority of the match. It may have been obvious that Kaymer was going to win, but he won in excellent style on the 16th hole. After hitting his second shot right of the green, Kaymer decided to chip and ended up holing out from off the green. He reacted with just as much enthusiasm as he did when he holed the winning putt. Kaymer has been solid all week and was really a key player for Europe.

5) Justin Rose VS Hunter Mahan > HALVED
This match was mostly dominated by Mahan for the first nine. But then, just like we saw with McDowell, Rose went on a run winning four straight holes to square up the match. Going into the last hole however, near the green, Mahan tried to flop his ball onto the green, but overshot it. Mahan was 1UP at the time, but as we saw in 2010, he had trouble closing the match again. Rose took advantage of this and scrambled for a half point, which was all he could do at that point. Rose was also undefeated this week throughout all his matches.

6) Stephen Gallacher VS Phil Mickelson > US 3&1
This was another back and fourth between the European and hometown rookie and the US veteran. Both played great golf all throughout the match and both held the lead at one point in the match. However, Mickelson won the last three holes of the match and as a result won the match on the 17th hole, where Gallacher bogeyed and Mickelson parred.

7) Thomas Bjorn VS Matt Kuchar > US 4&3
Kuchar, despite not winning a single point or half-point this week, ended up winning this match after Bjorn wasn't playing his best golf (only winning two holes out of 15). Kuchar also played pretty good golf too and was able to capitalize on Bjorn's errors

8) Sergio Garcia VS Jim Furyk > EUROPE 1UP
Both Garcia and Furyk played great rounds of golf and just like other matches today, the score went back and forth between the two. However, Garcia managed to win both the 15th and 16th holes which put him from 1 DOWN to 1UP. He held onto this lead right until the last hole of the match. Garcia's putting was also exceptional today, having made a 40-foot putt for par and a half on one of the holes.

9) Jamie Donaldson VS Keegen Bradley > EUROPE 4&3
Donaldson was on form for his entire match and Keegan Bradley couldn't match his performance unfortunately. After winning the first point of the match on the 5th hole, Donaldson held on to the lead for the entire match. On the 14th hole, Donaldson ensured that Europe would retain the Ryder Cup at least, by staying 4UP with four to play (ensuring the half-point that Europe needed at the time to get to 14 points). On the 15th hole, Donaldson put his second shot to within two feet, after which Keegen Bradley conceeded the hole, and thus Donaldson won the match and the Ryder Cup for Europe.

10) Ian Poulter vs Webb Simpson
Again, another back and forth match here in which Poulter led a good portion of it. Towards the end though, Simpson caught up and was 1UP going into the last hole. However, a birdie on the 18th by Poulter ensured that the Ryder Cup veteran would remain undefeated in Ryder Cup singles matches, and more importantly win the half-point for Europe.

11) Lee Westwood VS Jimmie Walker > US 3&2
This match was not lost by Westwood, but rather won by Walker. Westwood played good golf but managed very few birdies, whereas Walker's points came off birdie's he made, most of the time. This caps off a good Ryder Cup for Walker and in a post-match interview, he said that he would love to play in more Ryder Cups.

12) Victor Dubuisson VS Zach Johnson > HALVED
This was a rather uneventful match for the first 10 holes, as neither Dubuisson or Johnson won any holes, just pars between the two of them. Then on the 10th, Johnson took a 1UP lead, which kicked off a rally between the two for the lead over the next two holes. It ended with Johnson making a putt to half the match. Dubuisson played great golf all week, and as McDowell said, he's probably the next biggest thing in European golf.

Overall, the 2014 Ryder Cup may not have been as down-to-the-wire as the 2012 Ryder Cup in Medinah, but it was still one full of excitement and great golf, as is always promised with a Ryder Cup. Let's hope the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in the US.

What was your favourite part of this year's Ryder Cup? Leave a comment and let us know,

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

 (Jamie Donaldson: The Man Who Won the 2014 Ryder Cup for Europe)

2014 Ryder Cup Day 2 Recap

There's just one more day left in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Scotland and as it stands now, Europe still holds the lead with a score of 10-6 against the US. Today's rounds are now over and again they were all filled with excitement, emotions, and good golf. Here is a quick recap of the morning and afternoon matches.


Saturday's Fourball Matches:
1) Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson VS Bubba Watson/Matt Kuchar > EUROPE 3&2
2) Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood VS Jim Furyk/Hunter Mahan > US 4&3
3) Thomas Bjorn/Martin Kaymer VS Patrick Reed/Jordan Spieth > US 5&3
4) Rory McIlroy/Ian Poulter VS Jimmie Fowler/Rickie Fowler > HALVED

This morning's fourball matches brought a wave of US success, with the US winning most of the points. In the opening match, the match was back and forth between US and Europe. However, on the back nine, Justin Rose's putter was on fire, as he was making putt after putt. This eventually lead to the match concluding at the 16th hole, where Europe went 3UP. In the second match of the day, the US dominated most of it and Donaldson nor Westwood won a hole between them. On the other, Furyk and Mahan both played very well and deserved the win. Europe didn't lose that match, rather the US won it. In the third match, despite an early lead through the first few holes, the rookie duo Reed and Spieth rallied back to an eventual 5UP win, with the match concluding after the 15th hole. It was again another great performance by the formally considered underdog rookies, who are continuing to shock us every time they play. In the last fourball mach, Rory McIlroy was paired with an off Ian Poulter. This match also went back and fourth between Europe holding the lead and the US holding it. However, on the 16th and at 1 DOWN, we saw a glimpse of the old Ian Poulter, as he chipped in from off the green to secure a point for Europe (which would eventually result in them halving the match).

The afternoon foursome matches saw another European dominance, as we saw yesterday. Here were the pairings and scores for each match:

Saturday's Foursome Matches:
1) Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood VS Zach Johnson/Matt Kuchar > EUROPE 2&1
2) Sergio Garcia/Rory McIlroy VS Jim Furyk/Hunter Mahan > EUROPE 3&2
3) Martin Kaymer/Justin Rose VS Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed > HALVED
4) Victor Dubuisson/Graeme McDowell VS Jimmie Walker/Rickie Fowler > EUROPE 5&4

The first afternoon match saw a redemption for the Donaldson/Westwood duo. The match was again back and forth on the first nine, but Europe took a solid lead on the back nine after going 1UP, 2UP on the 9th and 10th hole. They held onto this lead and the match was concluded after the 17th hole. In the second match, a rested Garcia and McIlroy were reunited. The two took an early lead of 2UP after the first two holes and most of the holes were halved from there on, except for a US-won hole, and two Europe-won holes. This match was also concluded early at the 16th hole, where Europe went 3UP. The third match of the day saw Rose playing not with Stenson (who had a tight back and did not play), but with Martin Kaymer. Again the amazing US rookie duo of Spieth and Reed were leading for most of the match (and for most of the afternoon were the only winning US team). Justin Rose's putter had also gotten cold this afternoon, but right at the last minute, Europe began a rally that would result in them halving the match. We also saw on the 16th hole that the US rookie duo were in fact human, when Patrick Reed missed a two-foot putt that would have won the US the hole. The last match of the day was probably one of the most exciting matches so far. An excellent-playing Victor Dubuisson was on fire and playing excellent golf. His great tee shots, combined with McDowell's putting resulted in Europe going 5UP after 8 holes. Despite much effort by Walker and Fowler, the could not catch Dubuisson and McDowell, and the match was ended after the 14th hole.

Incidentally, Europe holds the lead by the same amount that the US did during the 2012 Ryder Cup, going into the final round. Due to this, everyone is reluctant in saying that Europe has won yet. Remember, this is match play, and this is the Ryder Cup. As we saw back in Medinah, anything can happen.

We'll be covering the last day of the Ryder Cup tomorrow as well with some live tweeting and our Recap post, when it concludes. Stay tuned for that and some exciting golf tomorrow,


-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

2014 Ryder Cup Day 1 Recap

Friday's sets of rounds have now concluded at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland and the overnight leader is Europe, with a lead of 5-3 over the US. Today's rounds featured some great golf on both parts and was very exciting. Here's a quick recap of each match that was played today

Friday's Fourball Matches:
1) Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson VS Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson > EUROPE 5&4
2) Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker VS Thomas Bjorn/Martin Kaymer > HALVED
3) Jordan Speith/Patrick Reed VS Stephen Gallacher/Ian Poulter > US 5&4
4) Keegen Bradley/Phil Mickelson VS Rory McIlroy/Sergio Garcia

The opening match between Watson/Simpson and Rose/Stenson officially kicked off the Ryder Cup. However, the Europeans played better than their US counterparts the entire match. Both Watson and Simpson failed to make a single birdie and as a result, the match was mostly dominated by Rose and Stenson, who were in the lead from the second hole onwards. The match ended after the 14th hole, at which point the Europeans went 5UP, thus securing their lead and the first point for Europe. The second match featured Fowler/Walker vs Bjorn and was a very good match with good golf played on both sides (both Bjorn and Walker made excellent chips to secure points for their team). However, a last minute rally from a 2UP deficit by Walker and Fowler payed off and as a result the match was halved.

The third match was between Speith/Reed and Poulter/Gallacher and was a major upset on Europe's part. To set the stage, we have two American Ryder Cup rookies going up against Ryder Cup royalty (Poulter) and the hometown hero (Gallacher). Surely this would be an easy point for Europe, but things did not turn out that way. The rookies dominated the entire match right from the start, winning by 5&4m and at one point were 6Up. Speith and Reed played excellent golf and were deserving of the win, especially considering that they were heavily favoured to lose the match. In fact, Europe's only won hole in this group was by Gallacher, with a poorly playing Poulter contributing no won holes. It's safe to say we were all shocked by this today as this was one of Poulter's biggest defeats in the Ryder Cup. Putting the rookies up against them was a brave move by US Captain Tom Watson but payed off greatly. The last match of the day was probably one of the most looked forward to match of the day, Mickelson/Bradley vs Garcia/McIlroy. Again, there was great golf played by both sides, but the US ended up winning this match by 1UP, after another late rally by the US from all square. It should be mentioned though that the score was back and fourth all throughout the match. Mickelson proved he's still as fierce as ever, nearly holing out a bunker shot that would of won the hole for them.

Shortly before the end of the morning matches, the afternoon foursome matches were announced. In foursome or alternate shot format, players on a team take turns hitting the same golf ball. The pairings were:

Friday's Foursome Matches:
1) Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood VS Jim Furyk/Matt Kuchar >> EUROPE 2UP
2) Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson VS Hunter Mahan/Zach Johnson >> EUROPE 2&1
3) Rory McIlroy/Sergio Garcia VS Jimmie Walker/Rickie Fowler >> HALVED
4) Victor Dubuisson/Graeme McDowell VS Phil Mickelson/Keegen Bradley >> EUROPE 3&2

Europe was dominant in the afternoon and many were surprised that Reed and Speith weren't playing either, despite their morning success. This may have actually led to Europe's dominance, but we will never know. For the first afternoon match, Donaldson and Westwood led for most of it, but the US were 1UP in the early part of it. Both sides were evenly matched, I'd say, but Europe was just able to hold onto their lead against Furyk and Kuchar. The second match showed another great performance by the Rose/Stenson duo, but Johnson and Mahan didn't let them off that easily, as the match dabbled between all square and 1UP for most of time. Regardless of this, Rose and Stenson are looking like they're going to be key players in the Europe team and their chance at winning.

The third match was probably the most exciting of the afternoon (no surprises here). Walker and Fowler looked like they were going to win going into the 17th hole at 2UP, but a spectacular performance by Garcia and McIlroy resulted in them going 1UP, 1UP through the last two holes, which was good enough for a half. Despite the half, this will probably be considered a loss to Walker/Fowler and a win to McIlroy/Garcia. The last match of the day was another dominant performance by Dubuisson and McDowell, who led for pretty much all of the match against Mickelson and Bradley. Both McDowell and especially Dubuisson played excellent golf and deserved the win. Many golf experts were critical of Tom Watson's decision to play Mickelson, due to him being older in age (some reported that he looked very tired after his 36 holes, but can't you blame him?). On the other hand, we saw a taste of the 2010 Graeme McDowell on the 16th and final hole, where GMac holed a long putt and similar to how he did in the 2010 Ryder Cup (he even celebrated the same way too!)). It's stuff like this that you'll only see in the Ryder Cup.

Finally, here are tomorrow morning's groupings:

Saturday's Fourball Matches:
1) Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson VS Bubba Watson/Matt Kuchar
2) Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood VS Jim Furyk/Hunter Mahan
3) Thomas Bjorn/Martin Kaymer VS Patrick Reed/Jordan Spetih
4) Rory McIlroy/Ian Poulter VS Jimmie Walker/Rickie Fowler

Very interesting pairings for sure, now we'll just have to wait and see how they play. Stay tuned for our coverage tomorrow on Twitter and our recap post too!

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

2014 Ryder Cup Preview

After two years of waiting, the golfing world will finally get to see one of it's most coveted team events being played again, the Ryder Cup. This year, the Ryder Cup returns to Scotland, the home of golf and for the first time in over 40 years, being played at Gleneagles in Auchterarder (specifically the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Hotel). The stakes are even higher this year than previous Ryder Cups, as the US Team looks for revenge against current cup holders Europe after their defeat at the 2012 Ryder Cup, in what was known as the "Meltdown at Medinah".

To recap, the full US team, captained by Tom Watson, consists of Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Matt Kutchar, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jordan Speith, Jimmie Walker, Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan, and Webb Simpson, as well as vice captains Steve Stricker, Andy North, and Raymond Floyd.

The European team, captained by Paul McGinley, consists of Rory McIlroy (NIR), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Justin Rose (ENG), Martin Kaymer (GER), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Thomas Bjørn (DEN), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), Graeme McDowell (NIR), Ian Poulter (ENG), Stephen Gallacher (SCO), and Lee Westwood (ENG), as well as vice captains Sam Torrance, Des Smyth, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and 2012 Ryder Cup Captain Jose Maria Olazabal.

An ongoing theme of the Ryder Cup is how the European side, despite it's depth of nationality, always appears more united and "team-like" compared to the Americans. This is traditionally why the US team is always characterized as the underdogs, at least that's how it's been in the last several Ryder Cups. This is something that Captain Tom Watson wishes to dispel and disprove come the matches. However at least to the golfing experts, this seems to be the case this year too, as many have picked Europe as the winning side again.

For me, I'm picking Europe as the wining side this year, mainly for a few reasons. Firstly, I agree with the experts completely in that this year's European team is just as united as teams before, and more united that the US side (a unity which I think was started by the Ryder Cup legend Seve Ballesteros and a unity which lives vicariously through him). Secondly, the European team consists of some of my favourite players in the game; Graeme McDowell, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Martin Kaymer. Naturally, everyone wants to see their favourites win! Lastly, is the course itself. The PGA Centenary course is considered by most more of a parkland course than a links course, but despite this, I think the Europeans will have an advantage here.

As for weather conditions over these three days, it looks like there's only a chance of rain on Sunday, with low winds throughout the three days, as well as temps in the high teens.

Earlier today during the Opening Ceremony for the Ryder Cup, Friday's Fourball pairs were announced by Captains Tom Watson and Paul McGinley. Being in Fourball format, each players of the 2-player team plays their own ball and the player that has the lowest score on each hole wins a point for their team, with half points being given out for a draw.  The pairings are:

1) Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson VS Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson (2:35AM EST)
2) Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker VS Thomas Bjorn/Martin Kaymer (2:50AM EST)
3) Jordan Speith/Patrick Reed VS Stephen Gallacher/Ian Poulter (3:05AM EST)
4) Keegen Bradley/Phil Mickelson VS Rory McIlroy/Sergio Garcia (3:20AM EST)

Now these are some interesting pairings. For match #2, it seems likely that Poulter and Gallacher will be able to beat rookies Speith and Reed, but this may prove to not be true, given the way Poulter has been playing this year. Perhaps the biggest match of the morning is match #4. As we've seen in the past few weeks, Rory's dominant performance has almost been matched by Sergio Garcia in the events they were both in. It seems like when one's playing well, the other is too. This is a power group for sure, but let's not underestimate Mickelson and Bradley, who were an excellent pairing in the last Ryder Cup. This will be an interesting match to watch for sure.

There's just a few hours now before the first groups tee off and the excitement begins. We'll be covering as much as we can of it and we'll be recapping the day's action with daily posts, so stay tuned for those.

Who do you think will win it this year? Leave a comment, let us know...

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

2014 Wales Open Picks - Results

The 2014 Wales Open at Celtic Manor has concluded and the winner this year is Joost Luiten. The young Dutchman shot even par during his final round, but this was still good enough for a 14-under finish, and a one shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, the weekday leader. This is his fourth win on the European Tour and first in a little over a year; his last win being the KLM Open last year

Conditions during the final round were ideal for scoring. 6-under was the low score of the day and was shot by several players at the iconic 2010 Ryder Cup course.

The members of the European Ryder Cup that were playing this week had up and down finishes. Jamie Donaldson had an excellent finish at T4 which will sure make Captain Paul McGinley happy. On the other hand Lee Westwood and Thomas Bjorn finished lower on the leaderboard at T60 and T58, respectively.

Finally here is how our picks finished the tournament:

1) Thorbjorn Olesen: T32 at 5-under (-5)
2) Lee Westwood: T60 at 2-over (+2)
3) Peter Lawrie: T65 at 3-over (+3)

Not the best of finishes, but that's just more incentive to play better in upcoming tournaments.

As you know, the Ryder Cup is being played this week at Gleneagles, so we'll be covering that fully once it starts.

Also stay tuned for our coverage of one of our favourite European Tour events, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, in two weeks.

-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews

Joost Luiten Wins the 2014 Wales Open (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)