2012 Ryder Cup Day 3: Europe completes epic comeback to retain Cup

The second-guessing began in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s miracle comeback or stunning meltdown (depending on your allegiances) at Medinah. And while Davis Love III supported sticking to the script, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain conceded he did try to alter the agenda on Saturday.

“We had a plan and we stuck to it,” Love told reporters Tuesday, ahead of this week’s PGA Tour event in Las Vegas in which he will appear.

This past weekend’s Ryder Cup didn’t have any effect on the World Golf Rankings, but with the PGA Tour ready to embark on its final four events of the 2012 season, it’s a good time to look at the current World Golf Rankings.

Rory McIlroy remains in first. He won the PGA Championship in August and two tournaments, the Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship, in September. He has a sizable lead on Tiger Woods, who is ranked No. 2 in the world. Woods hasn’t won a tournament since July, but his steady play since then has allowed him to creep back up the rankings. He holds a slim lead over third ranked Luke Donald, who held the top spot for much of the year. Donald hasn’t won since March and has only one finish inside the top 30 at the major championships in 2012.

There will be plenty of time for second-guessing Davis Love III (making Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk captain’s picks and sitting the sizzling duo of Keegan Bradley/Phil Mickelson in Saturday’s afternoon session come immediately to mind), but Europe -- and in particular, Ian Poulter -- deserved to do to the U.S. Ryder Cup team what the Americans did to them in Brookline in 1999.

Europe completed an improbable, epic comeback from four points down to hand the United States its fifth loss in the last seven Ryder Cup events. Martin Kaymer landed the knockout blow, defeating Stricker, 1-up, on Sunday, and when Tiger Woods (0-3-1 in the tourney) missed a four-foot putt on his final hole, the Euros closed out the Americans, 14.5-13.5.

There is an old adage when analyzing a coach’s strategy following a big game: if it works, the coach looks like a genius; if it doesn’t, he comes off as a goat. Unfortunately for United States Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, he now faces the latter situation.

Critiquing Love’s roster management and coaching strategy following his team’s historic loss Sunday just doesn’t feel right.

Call it a choke job by the Americans or a valiant rally by the Europeans. Either way, Europe is once again the Ryder Cup champion, claiming the trophy on Sunday after a 14½-13½ win at Medinah Country Club.

The U.S. entered the final day of the event with a commanding 10-6 lead. Needing just 4½ points out of a possible 12, the Americans let their lead slip away and allowed Europe to defend its title. Europe won the first four matches of the day, and before the Americans knew what hit them, their lead had turned into a 10-10 tie. The Americans rallied to take a 13-12 lead with three matches remaining, but Europe went 2-0-1 to close out the tournament.

Martin Kaymer defeated Steve Stricker on Sunday to complete Europe’s stunning comeback against the USA team, winning the match 1-up.

Stricker took the lead early after a birdie on the second hole. He maintained the 1-up advantage until hole No. 6, when Stricker bogeyed and Kaymer converted a par to tie things up.

Lee Westwood won the point with a 3 and 2 victory over American Matt Kuchar to give Europe a 13-12 lead at the 2012 Ryder Cup. The Americans have since won a point to tie things up at 13-13, but Europe now needs just one point to win the title.

Westwood and Kuchar were all square in a back-and-forth match through 10 holes. Westwood was able to take a 1-up lead with a par at No. 4, but Kuchar answered with a par at No. 6. Westwood parred No. 9 to retake the lead, but Kuchar’s birdie on 10 leveled the match again. After that, it was all Westwood.

Sergio Garcia completed a late comeback against Jim Furyk, knocking in a putt on the 18th hole to win his match, 1-up.

The matchup went back and forth throughout, as the two players entered the final hole tied. But Garcia made a birdie on No. 18, and Furyk was unable to recover. Furyk bogeyed, preventing the possibility of a half point for the USA team.

With Europe rallying from a 10-6 deficit to start the day and the score tied, 11-11, Zach Johnson came up with a big win for the Americans on Sunday afternoon at Medinah Country Club. Johnson defeated Europe’s Graeme McDowell, 2 and 1, to take the point and give the U.S. a 12-11 lead at the 2012 Ryder Cup.

Johnson took advantage of two McDowell miscues in the first four holes and took an early 3-up lead. McDowell bogeyed Nos. 1 and 4, allowing Johnson to win the holes with pars. Johnson also birdied to win the par-4 4th hole. After McDowell closed the deficit with a birdie of his own on the par-5 5th, he shot a 6 on No. 7, another par-5, and Johnson was able to win the hole with a par. McDowell cut Johnson’s lead again with a birdie at No. 9, but the players were evenly matched on the back nine, and Johnson walked away from No. 17 with the point.

The 2012 Ryder Cup is now tied at 10 points apiece after Ian Poulter picked up Europe’s fourth point of the day, defeating Webb Simpson 2-up on the 18th green. Poulter was the MVP of the European team through the first two days, and Jose Maria Olazabal sent him out early with the hopes that he’d give the Euros a shot on Sunday. Poulter was behind for much of the match, but turned it on and came through in the clutch over the final six holes.

With the match all-square, the precocious Poulter steadily struck his tee shot on the par-3 17th hole, putting it on the back of the green. Simpson left his shot in the bunker and could not get up-and-down to match Poulter’s par. The Englishman removed all doubt with a steady 18th, forcing Simpson to concede after he could not drain a lengthy putt from the left side of the green.

Rory McIlroy added Europe’s third early point during Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup, defeating Keegan Bradley, 2&1. McIlroy and Bradley were two young superstars who set the pace for their teams through the first two days, but Bradley struggled with his irons on Sunday and fell to the No. 1 player in the world. McIlroy picked up a win on Nos. 13 and 14 to go 2-up in a match that was nip-and-tuck until the final four holes. The Northern Irishman finished things up on the par-3 17th hole with a par.

It was a crucial win, pulling Europe within a point of the Americans at 10-9. McIlroy barely made it out on the course on Sunday, arriving just 10 minutes before his tee time at 12:25 p.m. ET. Rory misread his starting time on TV as being central time but secured a police escort to get to the course just moments before his match. Thankfully for Jose Maria Olazabal, he was able to get loose out on the course and secure the victory on the back side.

Scotland’s Paul Lawrie has clinched the second point of the day for the European team at the 2012 Ryder Cup. Lawrie blew out American rookie Brandt Snedeker in Sunday singles, winning 4&3 to cut USA’s lead to 10-8. Lawrie won three straight holes to get Snedeker dormie after 13. It was certainly an upset, with the 2012 FedExCup winner struggling to make the crucial putts that won him $10 million last week. Lawrie waited 13 years for another Ryder Cup appearance, and after a quiet first two days, he picked up a big point early on for Europe.

In the critical second match of the day, Ian Poulter and Webb Simpson are all-square with two holes to play. Poulter has been Europe’s best performer of the week, building on his successful history in the Ryder Cup and posting a 3-0 record through the first two days. Poulter is a demonstrative Brit, constantly rallying his team when things seem to be trending downward. He did that again on Saturday afternoon, winning another point to keep a Sunday comeback a remote possibility. A huge roar went up in the middle of Poulter’s backswing on No. 16, sending his approach shot short and wide of the green. But he did not relent, pulling off an impressive up-and-down to keep it all-square.

The European team needs to capture eight of the remaining 12 points in Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup, and veteran Luke Donald started things off on the right foot. Donald was chosen by Jose Maria Olazabal to lead off and capture the first point, and he delivered. Donald is 10-4-1 in the Ryder Cup, and he instantly pounced on Bubba Watson and never surrendered the lead. Donald pushed it to 4-up on the back side, slowly choking off Bubba, one of the Americans’ emotional leaders. Watson made things interesting by winning back-to-back holes down the stretch, but Donald clinched it on the 17th green, 2&1. With USA needing 14.5 points to clinch, the lead is now at 10-7.

The next three matches after Donald-Watson are all-square, and the Euros will likely need to take two of three if they want to get the momentum going and entertain a shot at a Sunday comeback. Webb Simpson led Ian Poulter for much of the match, but the Englishman rolled one in for birdie on No. 12 to pull it even. Poulter is the heart and soul of the European team, and if Simpson were to knock him off (or halve it), it would be a huge blow. In addition to that second match, the Rory McIlroy-Keegan Bradley and Justin Rose-Phil Mickelson matches are all-square on the back side at Medinah.

All 12 singles matches are out on the course at Medinah, and the European team is trying to pull of a Sunday miracle to retain the Ryder Cup. The Euros need to earn eight of a possible 12 points, with halves making things considerably harder. The first six matches are critical for Europe, and the U.S. team does not currently lead in any of them.

Olazabal sent out Ryder Cup veteran Luke Donald to get the first point, and the Englishman has responded by dominating his match against Bubba Watson. Donald jumped in front on the second hole and has never looked back, steadily building his lead against the American fan favorite. Donald kicked it into high gear on the back side, winning back-to-back holes on 11 and 12 to go 4-up. Watson is trying to make things interesting, winning his first hole on No. 15 to get things dormie.

Have you heard the one about Rory McIlroy arriving for his Ryder Cup singles match 10 minutes before his 11:25 tee time because he thought he was in another time zone?

The celebrity pitchman for luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet almost had a “defining moment” of his golf career when he apparently forgot that he had arrived at Medinah Country Club in Central Time the previous two days. Somehow, the world No. 1 missed the “Eastern time” when Golf Channel announced several times that McIlroy had a 12:25 date with Keegan Bradley.

Bubba Watson may have inaugurated a new Ryder Cup tradition when, for the second day, he hit his opening drive as frenzied fans stomped and screamed their support.

The Masters champ, who turned golf etiquette on its ear on Friday by urging the opposite of the usual funereal silence that golfers normally demand before each shot, even got Britain’s Ian Poulter in on the act on Saturday as the two opponents began their morning foursome match with chants of “USA! USA!” ringing in their ears.

The U.S. leads the 2012 Ryder Cup by a 10-6 score heading into the final day of action, and they’ll need just 4.5 points from singles play to assure they’ll win the cup. The European team has won four of the past five Ryder Cups, with the American’s only win this century coming at Valhalla in 2008.

The matchups for singles play on Sunday have been announced and the full slate can be found right here. Some key matchups will include the Rory McIlroy/Keegan Bradley matchup set to get underway at 11:25 a.m. ET, as well as the Justin Rose/Phil Mickelson matchup teeing off at 11:36. Tiger Woods will take part in the final matchup of the day, he’s scheduled to tee off at 1:04 p.m. ET against Francesco Molinari.

Team United States is leading Team Europe, 10-6, entering the Sunday singles portion of the 2012 Ryder Cup. It’s Team USA’s biggest lead entering the final day in over 30 years, but overconfidence could be dangerous, considering the USA’s recent inability to close out Ryder Cups.

Here are the Sunday singles pairings and tee times, courtesy of RyderCup.com: