Update 10.30pm: The victory was especially sweet for Davis Love, who was also in charge when Europe came back from 10-6 down to pull off the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.
“We have been criticised for eight to 10 years for not coming together,” Love said. “Phil Mickelson, Bubba (Watson), everyone who played on the team and who didn’t play on the team showed we all had a heart and could pull together.
“2012 was a great team and we played our hearts out but this is a different 12 and I am super proud of them. We all pulled together for this one.”
TEARS OF JOY: @bubbawatson and Davis Love III. When you win the #RyderCup you just let it all go 😭😭😭 https://t.co/uMK2IlVtTl
— Sky Sports Golf 🏌⛳️ (@SkySportsGolf) October 2, 2016
A sixth defeat in the last seven contests at Gleneagles in 2014 prompted the formation of an 11-man “task force” to examine all aspects of the US Ryder Cup process and Love added: “We’ve been kicked around for so long and you keep losing so you feel you have to do something different.
“There was a bit of rebuilding to do and a little bit of a shift in attitude. We are not going to win every one but we are going to go into them with a better attitude.”
Update 10.10pm: The United States have regained the Ryder Cup against Europe at Hazeltine.
The honour of securing the win fell to Ryan Moore, who was only chosen as the final wild card seven days ago after losing out in a play-off for the Tour Championship to McIlroy.
Moore was two down with three to play against Lee Westwood, who had lost his other two matches this week, but eagled the 16th, birdied the 17th and then made par on the last to take the score to 15-10.
Update 10.05pm: A miserable week for Masters champion Danny Willett, who was heckled after an article by his brother criticised American fans, then came to an end with a 5&4 defeat at the hands of Brooks Koepka.
Sergio Garcia showed incredible nerve to follow Phil Mickelson in for a birdie on the 18th and halve their match, which featured an amazing 19 birdies.
Sergio & Phil's best ball
— Ryder Cup Team EUR (@RyderCupEurope) October 2, 2016
Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
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Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Par
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Birdie pic.twitter.com/KdAKjAYYSn
But when Brandt Snedeker completed a 3&1 victory over Andy Sullivan, the home side needed just half a point from the remaining matches to seal victory.
Update 9.45pm: Europe soon had another point on the board at the 16th as Thomas Pieters secured his fourth point of a sensational debut with a 3&2 win over JB Holmes.
4-1-0. Thomas Pieters.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 2, 2016
What a rookie performance. #TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/Tf27m4rUNe
The gap was down to a single point when another rookie, Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello, defeated US PGA champion Jimmy Walker by the same score, but Justin Rose then lost on the last to Rickie Fowler, who had only taken the lead for the first time with a birdie on the 16th.
Update 9.10pm: Rory McIlroy suffered his first singles defeat in the Ryder Cup as the United States struck a major psychological blow in their bid to win the trophy for the first time since 2008.
Europe needed to overturn a three-point deficit in Sunday’s 12 singles matches at a hostile Hazeltine to claim an unprecedented fourth straight win in the biennial contest.
Open champion Henrik Stenson gave Darren Clarke’s side the ideal start with a 3&2 win over Jordan Spieth in match two, but McIlroy then lost a highly-charged contest with Patrick Reed on the 18th.
Patrick Reed win first Sunday point at #RyderCup for USA. pic.twitter.com/aDnZycDniU
— Pete Byrne (@PeteByrneWSBT) October 2, 2016
Reed, who was unbeaten and the top US points scorer on his debut at Gleneagles in 2014, birdied the 16th to double his lead and although he made a mess of the 17th, a birdie on the last was a fitting way to seal victory.
That took the home side to within four points of victory, with Davis Love’s side leading in each of the last five matches on the course.
Update 8pm: McIlroy was unable to save par from a greenside bunker on the 12th, but Reed was up to the task to take the lead for the first time as momentum began to swing towards the home side.
Snedeker had birdied the fifth and seventh to take the lead against Sullivan, while Koepka and Dustin Johnson had both birdied the sixth to get back to all square against Willett and Wood respectively.
A birdie on the fifth had also edged Matt Kuchar in front of Kaymer, with Fitzpatrick now two down in match 12 after a bogey on the fourth.
Update 7.15pm: McIlroy celebrated with even greater relish after holing from 50 feet for a remarkable birdie on the eighth, cupping his hands behind his ears and roaring “I can’t hear you” at the packed grandstands.
Reed responded with a birdie of his own from 15 feet and again wagged his finger at McIlroy, but the pair then exchanged a fist-bump and warm smiles as they headed to the ninth tee all square and five under par.
Ladies and gentlemen, Rory McIlroy!#TeamEurope https://t.co/zoXiqBLDml
— Ryder Cup Team EUR (@RyderCupEurope) October 2, 2016
Surprisingly both players bogeyed the ninth after finding sand off the tee, but the standard of play was brilliant around the course as the final match of Matt Fitzpatrick against Zach Johnson got under way.
Justin Rose was three under par for six holes and just one up on Rickie Fowler, while Sergio Garcia birdied the first two holes but saw opponent Phil Mickelson card four in a row from the second to move into the lead.
Andy Sullivan was one up on Brandt Snedeker in only his second match of the week, while Chris Wood had birdied the first two holes to edge in front of US Open champion Dustin Johnson.
Original story: The eagerly-anticipated clash between Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed quickly lived up to expectations as Europe looked to pull off an historic Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine.
Darren Clarke’s side needed to overturn a three-point deficit in Sunday’s 12 singles matches to claim an unprecedented fourth straight win the biennial contest against the United States.
That meant Clarke sent out his best players at the top of the singles order and with opposite number Davis Love doing likewise, the fired-up duo of McIlroy and Reed got things off to an electrifying start.
McIlroy drew first blood with a birdie on the third and also birdied the fifth, but saw Reed drive the green on the short par four and hole from seven feet to eagle and get back to all square.
Another birdie on the sixth elicited the first animated celebration from McIlroy, only for Reed to also birdie and then mock McIlroy’s bow to the crowd which had followed his winning eagle on the 16th in Friday’s fourballs.
Reed also appeared to wag his finger in McIlroy’s direction as the four-time major winner walked away, the world number three responding on the next by putting a finger to his lips to silence the fans after matching Reed’s birdie.
With eight matches on the course, Europe were up in five and down in two, with Justin Rose, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Andy Sullivan all enjoying one-hole leads in the early stages of their matches.
Open champion Henrik Stenson was two under par for six holes but still one down to Jordan Spieth, while Thomas Pieters had recovered from an early two-hole deficit against JB Holmes before driving out of bounds on the fifth.
