Bob MacIntyre was told there could be no mercy in his Ryder Cup singles match, even though Europe’s golfers had already guaranteed victory at Bethpage.
Luke Donald’s team were desperate to triumph by more than a single point in last September’s match to prevent the United States citing the injury withdrawal of Viktor Hovland as a potentially decisive factor.
The Norwegian landed a guaranteed half point after declaring he could not play because of a neck complaint, with Harris English sitting out for the home side.
In what was one of the greatest sports stories of the year, Europe claimed their first win in the US for 13 years by 15 points to 13.
But had MacIntyre lost to Sam Burns, with the American one up with one to play in the last match out on the course, then Europe would only have squeezed home by the narrowest margin.
Hovland’s injury meant English was denied the chance of winning a full point for the home team on that last day.
Tyrrell Hatton’s tie with Collin Morikawa eventually meant Europe withstood a stunning US fightback to reach the magic number of 14 and a half points.
When the visiting celebrations began, MacIntyre and Burns left the 17th green with the home player one up. The match was now academic, but two European vice-captains in the vicinity did not see it that way.
“Thomas [Bjorn] and one of the Molinari brothers came up to me and said we need your half point,” MacIntyre told BBC Sport. “We really need your half point.
“And I wasn’t really understanding when we were playing 18. I wanted to give Sam the putt, [because] it’s over. But I think the whole team didn’t want to be bothered with the Hovland thing and that half point took that away from them.”
Burns three-putted from long range on the final green and his Scottish opponent held his nerve for a hole-winning par. It yielded the half point that created a margin that meant the victory could not be questioned.
Earlier in the round, MacIntyre admitted he “thought the world was ending” when the US won five and a half points from the first seven singles. Suddenly there was potential for the most almighty comeback in Ryder Cup history.
“I’m like, where are we winning two and a half points?” Macintyre said. “And then the longer it went on, the more I started thinking: We’re not going to get these two and a half points.”
Europe dominated the first two days, building a seven-point advantage. But even with Ludvig Aberg beating Patrick Cantlay, it took until the eighth singles contest for Europe to be sure of keeping the trophy.
Shane Lowry famously holed a birdie putt to snatch a half against Russell Henley. The Irishman had earlier issued a warning against complacency.
“I said it to the boys on the Saturday night, there’s always an hour [where things can dramatically change] on the Sunday of a Ryder Cup, no matter what the score is going into it,” he told BBC Sport.
“From the outside looking in or if you’re sitting at home on your couch watching it, it doesn’t look like that, but it certainly feels like that when you’re out on the course. So I knew the Americans were going to come out firing.”
Lowry had partnered Rory McIlroy on the previous two afternoons, helping the Masters champion withstand vile abuse from sections of the American crowds. “I felt like no matter what happened, he could lean on me,” Lowry said.
“I think it was the four of us, you know, me, him, Darren [Reynolds, Lowry’s caddie] and Harry Diamond [McIlroy’s caddie]. Darren and Harry are really close. We’re all very close and I think that’s what you needed in an environment like that.”
Such hostility had been anticipated by Donald, who issued virtual reality headsets to help prepare his players. Nothing was left to chance.
While the Irish pair withstood the worst of the crowd excesses, other Europeans revelled in the New York atmosphere. “You’re getting shouted at from all angles,” Matt Fitzpatrick told me.
“How you are going to play this hole badly and how you’re a loser and all these crazy things and at that point, you just have to laugh.”
Sheffield’s Fitzpatrick was taunted for his brand of footwear and for wearing braces in his teeth until relatively recently. “I think it’s hilarious, I loved it, really,” he said.
“But from what I’ve heard, they definitely crossed a line with Rory and Shane and some of the other boys. So I think that’s obviously the disappointing aspect of it.
“And, like we say, we knew what was coming and I think that’s why the boys were so mentally prepared for that and that’s another reason why we did so well.”
Fitzpatrick landed a crucial point on the final hole of Saturday’s fourball session playing with Hatton, who had been a late call up for the injured Hovland. They beat Burns and Cantlay on the final green.
It meant Europe won the session and would take an unprecedented advantage into the final day. I interviewed both Europeans on that green and it was clear Fitzpatrick was desperate to celebrate with exultant visiting fans.
“You’re walking up 18 and you see everyone leaving,” he recalled more than two months later. “The chants are coming: ‘Is there a fire drill?’ And you’re like, hang on a minute. There are no Americans in that stand.
“And you finish on 18 and everyone is on the green, I mean, its giving me goosebumps now thinking about everyone in that stand being European.
“And they’re chanting and the singing and it was potentially a once-in-a-lifetime feeling to experience that.”
Fitzpatrick, who had a poor Ryder Cup record prior to Bethpage, was a captain’s pick and delivered two and a half points from his four matches. Only Tommy Fleetwood (four) and McIlroy and Hatton (three and a half each) contributed more.
Fleetwood revelled in partnering the Masters champion in the morning alternate shot foursomes and after lunch with Justin Rose, the man McIlroy beat in April’s Augusta play-off.
“It was in our heads,” Rose said. “For 10 years people had been saying how hard it was going to be.
“And to go there as a team and to be so perfect, almost, for the first two days. Really we didn’t allow them to get into it at all.
“What happened on the Sunday shows how great we were on Friday and Saturday.”
Rose and McIlroy were two of only 37 Europeans to have previously tasted an away victory. The objective was for the other 10 team members to make 37 become 47.
They were repeatedly handed the message that Bethpage last September would be their place and their time. “We’re made so aware of what we’re doing and what we’re playing for and how special that is,” Fleetwood said.
“And we take great pride in that. I think being part of that team brings out the best version of you.”
This year’s FedEx Cup champion added: “One Ryder Cup point just seems like it means so much and is so exhausting to finish.”
The morning after the match ended, Lowry was struggling with his voice. He cheerfully refused broadcast interviews because he knew how his rasping vocal chords could be interpreted.
And, yes, he had celebrated the night before. His moment of ensuring Europe could not be beaten, he felt, was bigger than when he won The Open at Royal Portrush in 2019.
Hatton and MacIntyre’s subsequent halves ensured this was a win without caveat, so it was well worth the raucous singalong on the team bus.
Champagne was more sprayed than drunk, though there were celebratory libations later at the team hotel. But Lowry did not go mad. He preferred to savour one of European golf’s greatest weeks.
“At one stage during the night, I just took myself off to the corner of the room and just sat there watching people celebrating for a half an hour, 40 minutes,” Lowry said.
“And just trying to soak it all in. Because I feel like it’ll take a lot for me to top that evening or that week.
“You know, Ryder Cups are the best weeks ever, but that week in general, I think would be tough to beat.”
5 Live Golf’s review of the year, including the Ryder Cup and McIlroy’s Masters triumph, is at 12 noon on 26 December and at 12 midnight on 1 January on 5 Live and BBC Sounds.
