Ryder Cup 2014 results: Europe crushes USA in foursomes, takes control at Gleneagles

For the second straight day, it got ugly for the Americans in the afternoon during alternate-shot foursomes. Europe took 3.5 of a possible 4 points again and now head to Sunday singles with a huge 10-6 lead. They were the favorites and expected to win at home, but the afternoon session was still extremely frustrating and deflating for the American side. Here some lowlights and reasons why.

After another whitewash foursomes session, there will be questions about Tom Watson’s lineup management. It wasn’t as egregious as sitting Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed on Friday, but the most surprising move was leaving Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley on the bench for the entire day. We knew Phil needed a rest and took himself out of morning four-ball, but this was the first time in his 20-year career in both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup that he sat out back-to-back sessions.

Mickelson told reporters he asked to play, pleaded to play, and indications were America’s best duo from Medinah were going to play. He and Keegan aren’t an ideal pairing for the alternate-shot format, but their energy sure would have boosted another lazy foursomes session. They could have been especially valuable replacing Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler, who were exhausted and got hammered in their fourth match in four sessions.

Hindsight is 20-20, but MIckelson and Bradley should not have played 36 yesterday, and they should have spelled at least one American pair for one session on Saturday. It was a straightforward and easy way to use the aging Mickelson, especially if you’re handcuffing a young talent like Bradley to him and no one else. Play Phil one session in each of the first two days.

Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler were the only American pairing to play all four sessions together. That workload showed early in their fourth match, as a fresh Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell put their match out of reach before they made the turn.

Walker had been the American MVP through the first day, and the better half of the pairing with Fowler. There was a reason he played all four sessions. But he lost it on the front nine, hitting multiple shanks and falling apart. A shank is extra costly in the foursomes format because you’re only playing one ball and you immediately put your partner in a tough spot. For instance, Walker caught a perfectly clean lie here but shanked one just 60 yards off to the right. This was instantly a lost hole.

Dubuisson, who McDowell calls the next superstar to come out of Europe, was flawless again. He nailed all the putts he needed to, which wasn’t many because he and McDowell kept stuffing it close while Walker and Fowler made a mess.

This was never competitive, and it could prompt questions over whether the American pair should have been rested.

The Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth duo, which came together at the last minute this week, have been America’s best team. They dominated two solid European teams in their first two matches and were the best USA representatives in this Saturday afternoon foursomes session.

Spieth and Reed drew the strongest player on the European side in Justin Rose, who looked unbeatable in the first three sessions. And they were the only ones who held a lead for much of their match.

The rookies started the inward nine with a 2-up lead, but the European pair of Rose and Martin Kaymer won three of the last seven holes to pull out a split. Reed missed a two-footer with little break on the 16th hole to give one away with a sloppy bogey. Knocking this in would have won the hole and put the Euros in a desperate spot.

As they’ve done all week, Spieth and Reed would get it back on the next hole with a winning birdie. Rose, however, drained a moderate-length putt to equalize things on the last hole of the last match. There was no shame in the rookies’ play or the half-point, but losing the 1-up advantage at the very end just added to the demoralizing session.

American fans, captains, and players may look to the comebacks from 10-6 deficits at Brookline and Medinah for a glimmer of hope. Those were extreme circumstances and not really analogous to what’s gone on this week. The USA was at home at Brookline, and had a significant talent advantage over that European roster. The Euros sat four players the entire first two days and played a core of eight for every single match the first two days. That hid those weaker players until Sunday, and exhausted some of the best players. This year’s Euro side is just as strong as the USA, and probably stronger from top to bottom.

As for the Medinah Miracle, that started on Saturday night, not Sunday. The European team went to sleep buoyed by that incredible win by Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy. Poulter’s birdie streak to come back and end the day with a full point had the entire Euro side roaring heading into Sunday. The Americans are underdogs here and completely deflated after a disastrous finish to Saturday’s two-session march. After those Poulter heroics, David Feherty memorably called it a “10-6 tie.”

One final and more important note why this is different than Medinah: The Euros held the cup from 2010 back then, so they only needed 14 of the 28 points to retain it. The USA will need 14.5 points on Sunday to take it away this year. That’s a huge half-point when only 12 are out there.

A comeback here on foreign soil against the heavy favorites would require more than those two previous miracles.

Here’s the match board from Day 2: