Europe need just four points from the final day’s 12 singles matches to complete their revenge mission in Rome and regain the Ryder Cup.
Luke Donald’s side will also have plenty of extra motivation after the second day’s play ended with angry scenes on the 18th green which later continued outside the clubhouse at Marco Simone.
Rory McIlroy was annoyed that Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava initially refused to move from his eyeline as he waved his cap over his head in celebration of Cantlay’s birdie on the last.
McIlroy and team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick still had birdie putts of their own to halve the hole and the match, but neither was able to convert.
“I talked to Rory,” Donald said. “He politely asked Joe to move aside. He was in his line of vision.
“He stood there and didn’t move for a while and continued to wave the hat, so I think Rory was upset about that.
“The Ryder Cup is always passionate. We’ve seen that many times over the past.
“I will address all 12 of my guys tomorrow. I’ll give them the right messaging and they will be ready to play.”
The incident threatened to overshadow a record-breaking performance from Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, who had earlier thrashed Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9&7, the largest margin in any 18-hole match in the event’s history.
That sparked a 3-1 win in the morning foursomes and although the United States took the fourballs by the same scoreline thanks to Cantlay’s late heroics, Europe ended the day leading by 10.5 points to 5.5.
The United States have never trailed entering the singles on European soil and come back to win. The largest comeback of four points in any singles was achieved by the US at Brookline in 1999 and Europe at Medinah in 2012.
Cantlay was taunted by European fans all afternoon after it was reported that he was refusing to wear a team-branded baseball cap in protest at players not being paid to compete in the Ryder Cup.
But he and his team-mates had the last laugh, waving their caps above their heads after Cantlay birdied the 16th, 17th and 18th to partner Wyndham Clark to victory over McIlroy and Fitzpatrick and ruin McIlroy’s perfect record.
“It just doesn’t fit,” Cantlay told NBC regarding his hat. “It is as simple as that. I didn’t wear it in Whistling Straits. That is all it is.”
Donald felt his side were still in a “great spot” to secure overall victory, adding: “I think if you asked us to be at 10.5 after two days we would take it.
“There is always momentum shifts and I thought we were going to maybe snatch a 2-2 this afternoon but Cantlay birdied the last three holes. I have a plan (for the singles) and will relay it to the team.
“I’m going to put (out) some strong players and put some blue on the board early.”
Donald’s players had achieved that perfectly in the foursomes, the record win for Hovland and Aberg followed by victories for the powerhouse pairs of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
The only bright spot of the morning session for the visitors came when Max Homa and Brian Harman secured a first full point for the Americans, Homa chipping in for an eagle on the 16th to see off Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka 4&2.
Scheffler, who was pictured fighting back tears and being comforted by his wife Meredith following the crushing loss with Koepka, lobbied to be given the chance to make amends in the afternoon fourballs but was left out by US captain Zach Johnson.
That decision paid dividends as Hovland and Aberg ran out of steam in a 4&3 defeat to Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa, while Homa and Harman enjoyed their second win of the day, beating Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard 2&1.
Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre recovered from an early deficit to beat Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 3&2 before the late drama in the anchor match gave the United States a glimmer of hope.
I’ve knocked off a lot of rust – Tiger Woods pleased with progress in comeback
Tiger Woods felt he had made significant progress after completing 72 holes in his latest comeback from injury in the Hero World Challenge.
Competing for the first time since undergoing ankle surgery after withdrawing from the Masters in April, Woods carded a closing 72 in the Bahamas to finish level par for the week and 18th in the 20-man field.
The 47-year-old recovered from a double bogey on the third with three birdies in the next four holes and also birdied the 14th and 15th after dropping shots on the eighth and 11th.
“I think I’ve come a long way,” Woods told NBC.
“From being a little bit rusty to playing four days and knocked off a lot of rust which was great, and just the physicality of actually playing and competing again – I haven’t done this in a while.
“It was nice to get out here with the guys, have some fun and compete. I wish I would have played a little cleaner but there’s always next time.”
Asked about his pre-tournament prediction that he could be able to play one tournament a month in 2024, Woods added: “If you ask me right now I’m a little bit sore.
“But once a month seems reasonable. It gives me a couple of weeks to recover, a week to tune up. Maybe I can get into a rhythm. That’s what the plan was going into next year and I don’t see why that would change.”
In a separate interview with a group of reporters, Woods added: “Every day I got faster into the round. The first day took me a while to get a handle on it, second day was faster, today was right away.
“And that’s eventually, when I play on a regular basis, that’s normally how it is.
“I think the best part of the week is the way I drove it. I drove it on pretty much a string all week. Granted, these fairways are big. I felt like I had my ball speed up, which was nice, and I was hitting the middle of the face the entire week, which is nice.
“So it’s not like I have to go and try and find something the next few weeks or something going into next year; what I’ve been working on is right there and maybe just [need to] tighten up a little bit.”
Rory McIlroy says rule change ‘will make no difference to the average golfer’
Rory McIlroy believes “elite pros” and equipment makers are to blame for an expected rule change which will reduce how far golf balls travel.
Golf’s governing bodies announced in March the proposal of a Model Local Rule (MLR) to give tournaments the option to require the use of balls which would travel around 15 yards less.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers and USGA counterpart Mike Whan confirmed that the MLR would apply in their own elite events, most notably the Open Championship and US Open, respectively.
McIlroy and Tiger Woods spoke out in support of the proposal but it was opposed by the PGA Tour and strongly criticised by top equipment manufacturing company Acushnet and former world number one Justin Thomas, who plays their market-leading Titleist balls.
In response to what Slumbers termed “very strong pushback”, the R&A and USGA are now understood to be on the verge of announcing a revision to the way balls are tested, which will effectively make current versions non-conforming and require shorter balls to be made.
Golf Digest, which first reported in detail on the revision, say it will apply at the elite level from 2028, but also for recreational players from 2030.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, McIlroy said: “I don’t understand the anger about the golf ball roll back.
“It will make no difference whatsoever to the average golfer and puts golf back on a path of sustainability. It will also help bring back certain skills in the pro game that have been eradicated over the past 2 decades.
“The people who are upset about this decision shouldn’t be mad at the governing bodies, they should be mad at elite pros and club/ball manufacturers because they didn’t want bifurcation.
“The governing bodies presented us with that option earlier this year. Elite pros and ball manufacturers think bifurcation would negatively affect their bottom lines, when in reality, the game is already bifurcated.
“You think we play the same stuff you do? They put pressure on the governing bodies to roll it back to a lesser degree for everyone. Bifurcation was the logical answer for everyone, but yet again in this game, money talks.”
In response to a follower who queried his view that the change would make no difference to the average golfer, McIlroy wrote: “I don’t believe an average golfer giving up 5-10 yards off the tee is going to have a material effect on their actual score, handicap or enjoyment of the game.”
Tiger Woods says fatigue to blame for dropped shots in closing holes
Tiger Woods admitted he was battling mental and physical fatigue after his second comeback round “stalled” at the Hero World Challenge.
Woods, 47, delivered a two-under-par 70 to leave him on one-over par through 36 holes following ankle surgery after his withdrawal from the Masters in April.
But the 15-time major winner was left thinking what might have been after he picked up three bogeys and just one birdie in his concluding six holes.
Woods reached the turn at the Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas with four birdies on his scorecard.
“Overall the round was better than yesterday, for sure,” said the American. “The start was better, the middle part of the round was better.
“I missed a couple putts there towards the end I thought would have kept the round going and unfortunately it kind of stalled out a little bit.”
Asked if physical and mental fatigue had contributed to his end-of-round “stall”, Woods, who dropped four shots in three holes between the 15th and 17th on Thursday, replied: “It’s all of the above. I just haven’t done it. I haven’t played in six months.
“Things are not as sharp as they normally would be. There has certainly been some good in there and I have just got to make sure that the good is more consistent than it has been.
“I can play at home, I can walk, beaches, and do all those things. But it’s different when you’re at game speed.
“You can simulate all you want at home and I had it the best I possibly can. We played a lot of money matches, but it’s just different. The mind’s racing more, the anxiety, the emotions are just different. You can always drop a ball at home, no big deal. Here it’s going to cost you.
“Other things are bugging me and bothering me, but the ankle’s fine. This week is a great beta test to figure out what I can do, and what the plan is going forward, and just analyse what it’s like to compete and play and the things I need to strengthen and work on in the gym to be ready for next season.”
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