Team Europe’s Sergio Garcia celebrates with Ian Poulter after winning the Ryder Cup. (Source: Reuters)
Spaniard Sergio Garcia set a record when his victory in his Ryder Cup singles match on Sunday gave him more points than any other player in the history of the competition. In beating American Rickie Fowler 2&1, Garcia collected his 25th-and-a-half point for Europe in the biennial team event, taking him half a point above England’s Nick Faldo. “To be part of the European team, all of them, it’s something you can’t describe,” Garcia said, deflecting any personal credit in favour of the team ethos. “There’s not enough money to buy it, the feeling we have with each other, how well we connect with each other. “There’s no other week when you open up your chest to guys you are playing against week in and week out. I love everything about (the Ryder Cup).” In winning three of his four matches at Le Golf National, Garcia improved his career record to 22 wins, 12 losses and seven halves in his 41 matches. Garcia, 38, has played in nine Ryder Cups stretching back to 1999, but he had to rely on a captain’s pick this year after failing to qualify for the team automatically. He has had a mediocre year by his own high standards but, as has so often been the case, rose to the Ryder Cup occasion to more than justify captain Thomas Bjorn’s faith in him. The Ryder Cup had defined Garcia’s career until he finally broke through and won a major at the 2017 U.S. Masters.
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.”