USA vs Europe scores, results from day 3

For McIlroy to claim win 2up amid that barrage of vile abuse yesterday was the perfect reflection of Rose’s comments from earlier in the week, when he said how “thick-skinned” the Northern Irishman is. Now the Masters champion faces Scottie Scheffler, the world No1 who has astonishingly lost four from four matches this week. McIlroy’s drive is enormous, about 20 yards short of the green.

A victory for old-fashioned golf. Fitzpatrick still had 100 yards into the green after his opening tee shot, with DeChambeau perched just short of the putting surface after that enormous drive. The Englishman fizzes yet another glorious wedge to only a few feet, DeChambeau’s putt then chip is poor, and Europe go one up. Up ahead, Rose pars at the 3rd, Young bogeys, and there is no red on the board again.

In-form Fitzpatrick faces DeChambeau

Matt Fitzpatrick fell to world No85 earlier this season and had conceded that he would not be playing in this year’s tournament, but a return to form earned him a pick from Luke Donald and how the Englishman has repaid his captain. He won 5&3 on Friday morning, played brilliantly in defeat on Saturday morning, and there were echoes of his 2022 US Open triumph yesterday afternoon after a brilliant final-hole bunker shot won his four-balls match.

Now he faces Bryson DeChambeau, who has been statistically USA’s second best player, in the third match. Fitzpatrick just runs out of room where the dog-legged 1st turns to the right before the American drives only a handful of yards short of the green. Game on.

Fleetwood and Thomas tee off

As Young pours in a birdie putt on the 1st to get USA off to the perfect start, Tommy Fleetwood prepares to tee off against Justin Thomas in the second match. In his fourth Ryder Cup appearance, Fleetwood has been phenomenal this week. He has the highest foursomes and four-balls points record in Ryder Cup history and if he wins today, he will be the first player in the tournament’s history to win all five matches on foreign soil. Both players’ drives find the first cut to the right of the fairway.

How well did Justin Rose putt yesterday? Well, here are the putting strokes gained statistics from that afternoon four-balls session. It was truly phenomenal as he and Rose made 12 birdies in 16 holes.

He is up against Cameron Young, who has been by far America’s best player, with the New York local exceptional from tee to green. The first tee is completely packed and Rose pipes his drive with a beautiful draw over the trees and into the left half of the fairway. Young finds the first cut. We are under way. Europe need two more points.

Ryder Cup - Day Three - Bethpage Black Course Viktor Hovland out of singles

Rick Broadbent, Bethpage Black

Still 20 minutes until play starts but Europe have already claimed half a point. Viktor Hovland has withdrawn because of the neck injury that kept him out of Saturday afternoon’s action.

Under the rules, that means one of the American team has to sit out the final day. That player’s name is put in a sealed envelope when the singles’ order is lodged in the case of such an eventuality. The names usually remain secret, but Hovland’s injury means Harris English misses out. English had been due to face Hovland in the last match

The significance of that is each team gets half a point. Hence, Europe move to 12 points and now need to win only two of 11 matches to retain the Ryder Cup, and 2½ to win it outright. There could be a lot of matches and holes to play by the time the Cup is won, which will make for a weird scenario of players having to delay celebrations.

Hovland won a point in the morning foursomes after a vital putt for a half at the 17th but had to withdraw from the four-balls yesterday

GETTY

Dr Andrew Murray, Ryder Cup Europe’s chief medical officer, said: “Viktor’s pain started during the morning foursomes, where he received treatment and medication from the physio and medical team on course during the match. Following this he attempted to warm up for Saturday fourballs, but experienced increasing pain while swinging a golf club, and a lack of range of movement in his neck and withdrew, being replaced by Tyrrell Hatton.

“An MRI was arranged following liaison between Team Europe and PGA of America on-site medical team, which confirmed a flare up of a previous injury – a disc bulge in his neck by a medical imaging specialist. This morning, Viktor received ongoing treatment but unfortunately he is not able to rotate or flex his neck to one side making playing the singles impossible.”

Fleetwood: Fighting in car parks? This is Ryder Cup

It was Wednesday at Augusta National and Frankie Fleetwood, aged 7½, was in front of a microphone after a Kid Canute-like attempt to defy a huge expanse of water during the father-and-families’ par-three contest (Rick Broadbent writes). He cocked his head and gently, with hand-me-down vowels and intonation, said: “I’ve been practising as hard as I can, just not reaching it this year … but I’m trying my hardest.” His father laughed and his son’s words became a slogan.

It had been a trying time for Tommy Fleetwood, aged 34½. His near-misses on the PGA Tour had made him a cause célèbre. Slaughtered, gutted and heartbroken, he squandered leads in Connecticut and Tennessee. One of those to take advantage of his wobbles was Keegan Bradley, whose Travelers Championship triumph fuelled calls for the Ryder Cup captain to take his clubs to Bethpage Black this week.

Bradley’s mind-boggling decisions gift Europe initiative

There is an age-old debate about how much of a difference the Ryder Cup captain truly makes, but the role’s evolution from a ceremonial figurehead to a meticulous tactician has rarely felt more pronounced (Tom Kershaw writes). Luke Donald may not need to motivate Rory McIlroy to silence an obnoxious American crowd and nobody in the locker room is going to fall out with Tommy Fleetwood, but the prevailing sense in New York was of a European team who have embraced that transition and a tubthumping host stuck damningly in the past.

The choice of Keegan Bradley in the first place has proven as reckless and confused a gamble by the PGA of America as first suspected. He might have toted flags and fist-bumped the president this week like a starstruck cheerleader, but the groundwork for Bethpage Black took place while he was focused on playing a full PGA Tour schedule. The blame for that should be shared widely, but Bradley still had a large backroom support team and data consultancy at his disposal that must have proffered numerous suggestions about how to capitalise on the competition’s famous home advantage. Instead, this has been a Ryder Cup marred from a US perspective by a catalogue of mind-boggling decisions and a crowd that succeeded only in embarrassing themselves.

After Justin Rose took issue with Bryson DeChambeau’s caddie on the 15th green yesterday, Ted Scott, who is on Scottie Scheffler’s bag, became involved in his own spat with European vice-captain Francesco Molinari on the walk to the following tee (Tom Kershaw writes). The pair have since made up, with Scott posting this video on his Instagram this morning.

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceSickos, robots and Rahm — my 12 hours of watching

The only thing I’ve got in common with Scottie Scheffler is that we’re both sickos (David Walsh writes).

He spends much of his life playing a game without seeing much point to it. I spend too much of mine watching games. In explaining his devotion, the best Scheffler could do was hold up his hand. “I’m a kind of sicko; I love putting in the work. I love getting to practise . But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don’t understand the point.”

What then to say to someone who in one day (Friday just gone by) spent 12 unbroken hours watching televised golf? What advice do you give this sicko? “If you don’t shift position while on that sofa, you’re going to end up with pressure sores,” the woman in our house advised. Any nurse will tell you what they are.

How does the singles event work?

So we’ve had orgasmic foursomes and fourballs encounters over the past two days. That is no more on the final day. The singles is old-fashioned one-v-one matchplay. So the best of the USA and the best of Europe go head to head, toe to toe, honking tan lines to honking tan lines to decide the destination of this year’s Ryder Cup.

McIlroy and Europe rise above abuse

It was shortly after 7am when the first chorus of disapproval rang around Bethpage Black (Rick Broadbent writes). “F*** you, Rory” was the first classless chant of the day the Ryder Cup sank into a beer-stained morass. What followed went beyond banter, with bile about family members and deliberate attempts to disrupt the European players as they prepared to play shots. They can take solace that it is all over bar the shouting.

If you think this sounds a bit pious, the sight of extra police following the four-balls match of Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young was unequivocally grim. At one point McIlroy called over the referee and refused to putt until the barracking stopped. Lowry pointed at another relentless heckler, who was ejected. There was fighting in the 18th grandstand. Players expected a degree of banality, but not this. On the course, the Irish duo showed remarkable resilience to fend off a determined challenge in the most stressful surroundings. Guts on Saturday, glory on Sunday.

One last dance for future captain Rose

What’s the secret of a great Ryder Cup pairing? Justin Rose pondered this question and came up with a line that sounded like an amended version of the famous tagline from 1970s weepie Love Story. “To not feel like you have to say sorry,” he said (Rick Broadbent writes).

Sometimes the captains are baffled by this everlasting conundrum. In 2012 Davis Love III left out the winning combo of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley on the Saturday afternoon and momentum shifted from an annus mirabilis for the USA to the “Miracle of Medinah”. To borrow from that Seventies romance again, Love was not having to say sorry, but it was a costly mistake.

Extra police brought in as US fans target McIlroy

State police and extra security were brought in to control abusive fans targeting Rory McIlroy as the Ryder Cup descended into chaos at Bethpage.

During the afternoon four-balls on Saturday, McIlroy also called in the referee and refused to play on until the barracking stopped.

Earlier, McIlroy had become embroiled in a bitter exchange with USA fans as Europe made history on the second day in New York.

Tee host Heather McMahan steps down after Rory McIlroy chant

Ryder Cup host Heather McMahan has reportedly apologised to Rory McIlroy and stepped down from her position after directing a foul-mouth tirade at the Northern Irishman and encouraging chants from Team USA fans of “F*** you, Rory” on day two of the Ryder Cup.

McMahan, 38, is an American actress, writer and alleged comedian acting as an emcee at Bethpage Black. Before the morning foursomes kicked off on Saturday, McMahan, using a megaphone, orchestrated chants from the grandstand at the first tee as McIlroy prepared to team with Tommy Fleetwood. The Team Europe duo would go on to beat Harris English and Collin Morikawa 3&2.

Organisers stepped in to remind the fans about their conduct with messages on the big screen, and police stepped in to eject supporters. The actions of McMahan left many fans fuming on social media.

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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceRyder Cup singles line-up

Here is the card for the day:

5.02pm Cameron Young v Justin Rose

5.13pm Justin Thomas v Tommy Fleetwood

5.24pm Bryson DeChambeau v Matt Fitzpatrick

5.35pm Scottie Scheffler v Rory McIlroy

5.46pm Patrick Cantlay v Ludvig Aberg

5.57pm Xander Schauffele v Jon Rahm

6.08pm JJ Spaun v Sepp Straka

6.19pm Russell Henley v Shane Lowry

6.30pm Ben Griffin v Rasmus Hojgaard

6.41pm Collin Morikawa v Tyrrell Hatton

6.52pm Sam Burns v Bob MacIntyre

7.03pm Harris English v Viktor Hovland

The teams: USA and Europe

A reminder of the teams.

Starting with Keegan Bradley’s stunners in stars and stripes: Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.

As for Europe, captained by Luke Donald, we have: Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg, Vikrot Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm.

Welcome to day 3 of the Ryder Cup

So this is it. It all comes down to this. You wait two years for the Ryder Cup and it flies by so fast. However, we still have the main event, the coup de grace, the final showdown; it’s the day three singles at Bethpage Black in New York. Hold on to your hats, this is going to be a slobberknocker. As always, you can keep up to date with all the brilliance, bonkers, bad and beef thanks to our reports on the ground across the pond. Live news and analysis coming your way. Get comfy.

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