Shane Lowry explains warning he gave Team Europe before USA’s Ryder Cup Sunday fightback

This was an experienced European side, with all but one of the squad having played together in 2023. But they got caught up in the moment. Lowry was one of the few who didn’t look completely drained by the end.

The Irishman had warned his teammates about a possible American fightback, telling BBC Sport: “I said it to the boys on Saturday night, there’s always an hour [where things can dramatically change] on Sunday of a Ryder Cup, no matter what the score is going into it.

“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 managed a half-point against Russell Henley to take Europe’s tally on Sunday to 1.5 points, before Tyrrell Hatton sealed it for Europe by tying Collin Morikawa. The final scoreline wasn’t kind to Europe’s performance over three days, but they did enough when it mattered most.

Despite Lowry’s warning on Saturday night, doubt started to creep in for some players during Sunday singles—especially those going out later who didn’t expect their matches would be needed.

How Robert MacIntyre felt as Team USA mounted their Ryder Cup comeback

Robert MacIntyre found himself in the final match on Sunday, going up against Sam Burns. No one expected his match to have any real impact on the final outcome, but as the American points started piling up, it suddenly felt much more important.

Team Europe Vice Captains Thomas Bjorn and the Molinari brothers let him know just how crucial his half point could be. MacIntyre later admitted that he started to feel a bit of doubt creeping in.

The Scot said: “Thomas [Bjorn] and one of the Molinari brothers came up to me and said we need your half point. We really need your half point.

“I’m like, where are we winning two and a half points? And then the longer it went on, the more I started thinking: We’re not going to get these two and a half points.”

By the time he reached the 18th green, though, Europe had already sealed victory, and his match no longer mattered to the overall result. But there was still one more issue to address.

Viktor Hovland had withdrawn earlier that morning due to a neck injury, activating the envelope rule that resulted in him and Harris English splitting a point. Had Europe won by just that margin, some felt there might have been questions around its legitimacy.

The team wanted no lingering doubts over how things played out and asked MacIntyre not to concede a putt that would have given Burns his match win.

He explained: “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 ended up three-putting for par on 18 which left them tied—and helped remove any controversy about Hovland’s injury affecting how things ended.