Paris, Oct 1: Francesco Molinari fittingly took the glory as Europe regained the Ryder Cup in dominant style on Sunday, the Italian beating Phil Mickelson on the 16th to post the point needed to reach the magic tally of 14.5. Mickelson conceded the hole after firing his tee shot into the water with Molinari on the green to leave the Italian as the first European to win all five matches in a week — having not won any of his previous six.
Europe were effectively already assured of victory when he teed off as the Italian, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia were all dormie and guaranteed at least half a point from their games — with Europe at that stage needing one.
They had started the day 10-6 up, needing to secure four and a half of the 12 points available to win back the trophy and extend their stranglehold on home soil that dates back to 1993. Only twice before had a team come from four down going into the singles to win — the US doing so at Brookline in 1999 and Europe in 2012 in the 'Miracle of Medinah', but another stunning comeback never really looked on the cards.
Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson and Tony Finau gave Jim Furyk's team a glimmer of hope with early wins but then the European points started pouring in from all over the course. Thorbjorn Olesen hammered Jordan Spieth and fellow rookie Jon Rahm beat Tiger Woods — leaving the 14-times major champion with a stunning four defeats out of four.
Ian Poulter, “Mr Ryder Cup”, then produced probably the loudest cheer of the week when world number one Dustin Johnson conceded on the 18th green to leave Europe on the verge.
It was then just a question of which match out on the course would finish next and it proved to be Molinari's — sparking amazing scenes of celebration watched by the biggest galleries in the event's history.
Five out of five for magical Molinari
Italian Francesco Molinari sparked wild celebrations as his record-breaking 4&2 win over Phil Mickelson put the rubber-stamp on Europe's Ryder Cup victory over the United States on Sunday.
On an electrifying afternoon at Le Golf National south west of Paris, Molinari was rock steady as he completed a comfortable victory with a birdie on the 16th green.
He is the first European player ever to score maximum five points in the Ryder Cup and only the second since Europe combined to take on the Americans.
American Larry Nelson also did it in 1979.
His incredible weekend comes just over two months after the 35-year-old became the first Italian player to win a major with his triumph at the British Open in Carnoustie.
“It means so much more than majors, more than anything,” Molinari said as he was swamped by yellow and blue clad fans.
“It's hard not to get emotional when you think about the other players, the vice captains, Thomas (Bjorn), the wives.
“It's been an incredible week. Obviously they had probably the strongest team ever and were just so good.”
Europe's victory was already assured even before five-times major champion Mickelson offered his hand to concede on the 16th green. But that moment sparked scenes of pure delirium as hundreds of fans wedged in around the sun-bathed green danced in delight and sprayed beer into the air.
Molinari had never won a Ryder Cup point in his two previous appearances in 2010 and 2012 but formed a superb partnership with England's Tommy Fleetwood here at Le Golf National.
They won all four matches they played together over the weekend, including three victories over 14-times major champion Tiger Woods. The duo, already nicknamed “Molliwood”, are the first European twosome to sweep all four pairs matches they played.
“Obviously I had an amazing partner in Tommy. Never felt like I had a rookie playing alongside me,” Molinari said.
“It's been amazing, and today, it was just hard to get the energy. It's been a long week, playing five matches, but you know, again, I stepped it up when I had to.”
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