Ryder Cup winner Tommy Fleetwood warned the United States that Rome was just the start for Europe’s new breed of players.
And Rory McIlroy, whose four points were integral in winning back the cup, put out a rallying cry to “bring on Bethpage”, with all eyes on emulating the Miracle in Medinah of 2012 and winning on US soil.
Europe put themselves in a commanding position for the singles showdown yesterday after dominating the opening two days and, despite a spirited fightback from the US, held firm for a 16½-11½ victory.
The hosts had been in a state of flux in the wake of a record 19-9 defeat at Whistling Straits two years ago after a changing of the guard. Stalwarts such as Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood were no longer in selection reckoning for Rome, while four rookies were bloodied here.
But Fleetwood, who sealed the winning point to regain the trophy for the team and captain Luke Donald, warned he and his European team-mates had plenty of room for improvement in the future.
“Team Europe’s amazing,” he said. “It’s such a privilege to be part of this team and play a role in winning the Ryder Cup. This is team is already amazing, there’s so many amazing players early on their Ryder Cup journey and we have a great, great future in this competition.”
Fleetwood formed a formidable partnership with McIlroy in the foursomes, which is likely to be repeated in New York if both fit and in form. And McIlroy, who was one of Europe’s star turns with four points from a possible five, used the post-match press conference to already turn his and the team’s attention to the challenge of victory as an away side on American soil.
“I think one of the big accomplishments in golf right now is winning an away Ryder Cup,” said the Northern Irishman. “And that’s what we’re going to do at Bethpage.”
For Justin Rose, who defied being the elder statesman of the team at 43 to play an integral role in the fourballs with one-and-a-half points, Bethpage could prove beyond him. The Englishman called winning away “a monumental challenge”, but insisted that Europe felt more united than ever after their heroics in Rome.
Europe had romped into a 4-0 lead in the foursomes and never conceded that advantage, despite the US threatening to pull off an all-time record comeback in an at times nerve-wracking singles competition.
The lead-up to the final day’s play had been overshadowed by ugly scenes on the 18th green in the final game on Saturday, where McIlroy had taken umbrage with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava excessively celebrating the American’s winning putt before he had even taken his. The pair clashed afterwards, and McIlroy was later involved in a spat in the car park in which he had to be held back by team-mate Shane Lowry.
Cantlay had been mocked from the stands throughout Saturday following rumours he was not wearing a team cap because of a row over pay, which he later dismissed. The American later said the abuse had helped to galvanise the team. Rose, meanwhile, said the McIlroy spat also had a unifying effect on Europe going into the climax of the competition.
“It snapped us into life,” he said. “If there was any complacency before, there wasn’t any coming into today. I think that was a huge error by them. It switched everyone’s eyes on.”
Rose joked the team had nicknamed their talisman ‘Rocky McIlroy’ following the incident. McIlroy, for his part, said he had sent clear-the-air messages to LaCava and another caddie he had confronted in the car park.
Captain Luke Donald downplayed the incident the night before and again said his team did not need it to bring them any closer together. “They didn’t need galvanising,” he said.
Meanwhile, American captain Zach Johnson says he wished he had trusted his gut more over the course of the three days.
“There were moments there where you really just check your gut,” he said. “Regret is a strong word, but I wish I would have done a better job of that.” Much of the American line-up had come in relatively rusty, having not played for five weeks. But despite his players appearing under-prepared in the Friday morning foursomes, in particular, Johnson said: “There’s something to be said about rest and recovering. We had the prep time.”
Asked if he wished he had approached it differently, he said: “I don’t know what it looks like, never will. It’s not a matter of anything other than Europe scored more points.”
