Europe retains the Ryder Cup with victory at the Medinah Country Club.
| United States | 13½-14½ | Europe |
ORDER OF PLAY
Singles (Sunday)
| United States | 3½-8½ | Europe |
| Bubba Watson | won 2&1 | Luke Donald |
| Webb Simpson | won 2up | Ian Poulter |
| Keegan Bradley | won 2&1 | Rory McIlroy |
| Phil Mickelson | won 1up | Justin Rose |
| Brandt Snedeker | won 5&3 | Paul Lawrie |
| Dustin Johnson | won 3&2 | Nicolas Colsaerts |
| Zach Johnson | won 2&1 | Graeme McDowell |
| Jim Furyk | won 1up | Sergio Garcia |
| Jason Dufner | won 1up | Peter Hanson |
| Matt Kuchar | won 3&2 | Lee Westwood |
| Steve Stricker | won 1up | Martin Kaymer |
| Tiger Woods | halved | Francesco Molinari |
EUROPE completed the most incredible comeback in its Ryder Cup history to retain the trophy at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois last night.
Resuming 10-6 down, having been 10-4 down at one stage on Saturday, Jose Maria Olazabal's men won eight of the 12 singles matches on Sunday.
That made it 14½-13½ overall as Olazabal's tactic of putting his best players up first was thoroughly vindicated.
Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Paul Lawrie all won in the top five matches as Europe totally capitalised on its extraordinary Poulter-inspired fourballs victory.
But surely even Poulter himself must have doubted just how significant that point on Saturday would be.
Indeed, it would be fair to say that the European players started their singles matches more in hope than expectation.
However, a bright start from Donald against the brash Bubba Watson gave the tiniest inkling of the extraordinary day which was to follow.
Donald eventually won 2&1 in a match which he led from start to finish, while Lawrie was also utterly dominant in his 5&3 victory over Brandt Snedeker.
The other three matches at the top of the order were much tighter affairs, though.
Webb Simpson led Poulter 1up at the 10th but the Englishman got it back to all-square on the 12th before going 1up on the penultimate hole and winning the 18th for good measure.
Meanwhile, world number one Rory McIlroy made a fast start, going 2up through the sixth hole, having arrived at the Medinah via a police escort after setting his alarm to the wrong time zone.
McIlroy still held his two-hole advantage at the turn but then lost the 10th and the 12th to be hauled back level before decisive putts on the 14th and 15th spared the Northern Irishman's blushes.
The fourth match between Rose and Phil Mickelson was perhaps the match of the day, a never-ending series of twist and turns.
Rose was another European to start well, taking the first hole and restoring his 1up advantage on the eighth green.
The middle of the match belonged to Mickelson, however, and the four-time major winner levelled at the 11th before taking a one-hole lead at the 14th to spoil the scoreboard sea of blue.
But Rose was not finished yet - and the 32-year-old won the last two holes to force an extraordinary victory.
Despite this, the hosts then seemed to steady the ship a little as Dustin Johnson completed a good 3&2 win over Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, and his namesake Zach beat Graeme McDowell with something to spare.
McDowell, the hero two years ago at Celtic Manor, was never ahead against his opponent - indeed, he was three holes down after seven, never to recover.
And so, with Jim Furyk leading Sergio Garcia on the 17th tee - and Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods at parity against Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari further down the order - it looked as if Europe's push for victory would end in a brave defeat.
But then came the final few quite incredible twists in the tail.
First, Lee Westwood made a welcome return to form in the singles, sweeping aside Matt Kuchar 3&2 to make it 12-12 in the overall score.
Then, in that all-important eighth match out, Spaniard Garcia incredibly repeated what Rose had done about 50 minutes beforehand... winning the final two holes for an amazing 1up victory over Furyk.
Suddenly, Europe was 13-12 ahead - ahead for the first time since the first foursomes result on Friday - and requiring just one more point to retain the trophy.
The Americans levelled it up again at 13-13 as Jason Dufner secured victory over Peter Hanson - but even that had proved a scare for the hosts.
Dufner won four of the first eight holes but his Swedish opponent never completely lost heart and won five holes on the back nine, including three in a row between the 10th and the 12th.
Unfortunately, Dufner also won a couple of holes heading back - at 13 and 15 - and the American escaped with a full point.
And so, with the scores level after 26 completed matches, the whole Ryder Cup came down to four players - Steve Stricker, Martin Kaymer, Tiger Woods, and Francesco Molinari, each of whom had failed to score a single point in the 2012 edition.
Kaymer - a former world number one - had been in terrible form all year, and lost his fourballs match with Rose 3&2 on Friday.
Here, though, he was pitched against an equally out-of-sorts player in Stricker, and - after winning the 17th - Kaymer suddenly had the chance to win his match... and retain the Cup for Europe.
The German looked to have held his nerve, too, as he found the green inside Stricker who subsequently missed his putt.
That meant Kaymer had two putts to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe - but he proceeded to strike the first far too hard and the ball slid some five feet past the hole...
A tricky second awaited the German - but, like his countrymen in penalty shoot-outs, he made no mistake and Europe had completed its most amazing golf comeback.
Yes, the Europeans had done it - and had even done it with a match to spare. Woods' efforts against Molinari were rendered irrelevant in a move that, in hindsight, looks like a tactical oversight by American captain Davis Love III.
Indeed, Woods - clearly aware of events around him - missed his final attempt on the 18th and conceded Molinari's testing four-foot putt to win the hole, meaning their match was halved.
Statistically, at least, it was a significant concession by Woods, who failed to win a single match out of four at the Medinah.
For, it meant that, instead of a third-ever Ryder Cup tie in history, Europe had won the trophy outright for a seventh time out of the last nine editions - a phenomenal record.
From 10-4 down at one stage on Saturday, Europe had won 14½-13½ after its best ever singles performance. The visiting players had truly never given up.
And, in taking that attitude, Europe had indeed rediscovered the spirit of the late Seve Ballesteros whose name adorned the sleeves of the players' shirts.
Ballesteros' contemporary, captain Olazabal, unsurprisingly broke down in an emotional post-match television interview.
"I had a few thoughts for my friend Seve, and this one's for you," he said, looking towards the heavens before burying his tears of pride, joy and disbelief in his cap.
Meanwhile, undoubted man of the tournament Poulter added: "When you're wearing navy and white on Sunday, you're wearing it for a reason.
"Ollie's a special guy - we've got Seve on the arm, Seve on the bag, I know he's up there, and he'll be the proudest man in the world right now."
The spirit of Seve had delivered, and produced the Miracle of Medinah. It was a simply brilliant day.
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