Europe Win Third Ryder Cup

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Europe added another layer of Ryder Cup dominance on Sunday behind Rory McIlroy big start, two big rallies and a rookie who hit the shot of his life to give this performance a finish it deserved.

Jamie Donaldson, unaware he already had done enough to retain the Ryder Cup, hit a 9-iron that settled 2 feet from the cup on the 15th hole. Keegan Bradley walked onto the green, saw Donaldson's ball next to the hole, removed his cap and conceded the birdie. And the celebration was on.

The result in the record book was Europe 16½, United States 11½. It's an old story for the Americans.

Europe won for third straight time, and now has won eight of the last 10.

"It came down to me to close it out, but it's all about the team," Donaldson said. "Everyone played their heart out to retain the Ryder Cup. And that's what it's all about."

McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose made sure the Americans would not get their redemption from the meltdown at Medinah two years ago as the first team to blow a four-point lead at home.

McIlroy was 6-under par on his first six holes and trounced Rickie Fowler to set the tone. The Americans put plenty of red on the board early, just not for long. McDowell was 3-down after five holes and Rose was four behind after six holes. McDowell rallied to beat Jordan Spieth, while Rose earned a halve against Hunter Mahan.

Martin Kaymer, who holed the winning point at Medinah, put Europe on the cusp of victory when he chipped in for eagle on the 16th to beat Bubba Watson. That set the stage for Donaldson.

"The shot of my life," he called it.

Europe captain Paul McGinley, who spoke all week about a template for success, stood by the 15th green with the rest of the players who had finished their matches. Donaldson was mobbed by his teammates, another happy occasion for Europe.

Asked for the highlight of the week, McGinley turned to Donaldson and said, "When you look at a face like that." He put both hands on Donaldson's face and hugged him.

The Americans still can't figure out this exhibition of team play.

They even brought back Tom Watson, at 65 the oldest captain in Ryder Cup history and the last American captain to win on European soil. Watson made a series of questionable moves during team play and the Americans didn't have much hope on Sunday.

Watson attributed the loss to foursomes -- Europe was unbeaten in both sessions and collected seven of the eight points -- though McGinley wrote that off as a fluke. Asked what he would tell his team in a final meeting, Watson said, "You played your best, but it wasn't enough. You've got to find out what it takes a little better."

Except for a victory at Valhalla behind captain Paul Azinger in 2008, the Americans haven't solved this Ryder Cup puzzle.

Phil Mickelson, on the bench for both sessions Saturday, finished off a 2-1 week by beating Stephen Gallacher. Asked about the future of the Ryder Cup, Mickelson went back to that last U.S. victory.

"We had a great formula in '08, and I don't know why we strayed from it," Mickelson said. "What Zinger did was really a good format. Maybe we should relive that."

Azinger has said that Watson never asked him about his "pod" system in which the U.S. team was broken into three groups of four players and stuck together the entire week.

No team embodies togetherness quite like Europe.

The Americans now have to wait two more years -- Hazeltine outside Minneapolis is the next Ryder Cup -- to figure that out.

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A Good Day as McIlroy Fires 66

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Rory McIlroy eased any concerns about the state of his game heading into the first major of 2016 as Jason Day set an imposing clubhouse target in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Day added a flawless 65 to his opening 66 for a 13-under-par halfway total of 131, just one shot outside the tournament record shared by fellow Australian Adam Scott, Tom Watson and Andy Bean.

"It would be nice to go eight under tomorrow," joked Day, whose best score at Bay Hill before the start of the week had been 68.

Starting on the back nine, the US PGA champion birdied the 12th, 16th and 17th to reach the turn in 33, before picking up four more birdies on the inward half and closing his round in style by holing from 35 feet on the ninth.

"I said after yesterday's round I was just trying to stay patient and came out and started off really solid and kept it up," the world number three added on PGA Tour Radio. "I drove the ball nicely, hit a lot of good quality shots into the greens.

"I had one kick-in on three but for the most part played the par-fives great again and just putted great. The two bombs that I holed today on 17 and nine definitely helped, but I felt like these sorts of scores were coming, I just had to be patient with myself.

"It's very easy to get ahead of myself, especially with how I've played earlier this year. It hadn't been that great and I get a lot of media saying 'What's wrong, what's wrong?'.

"You can get a little bit caught up in it sometimes but you just have to make sure you're doing the right things, you're working hard, you're working towards that goal and the last few days has been fantastic."

McIlroy, who blew a four-shot lead in the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship and carded an opening 75 here, had kept pace with Day in the group ahead for much of the round thanks to six birdies in his first 14 holes.

However, the world number two failed to birdie three of the four par fives and eventually had to settle for a 67 after dropping his only shot of the day on the seventh - his 16th hole - after missing the green off the tee.

That left McIlroy on two under par and safely inside the cut, which was projected to fall at level par.

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Spieth Shows Human Frailty

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Jordan Spieth has missed the cut at The Barclays and is set to lose his status as world number one to Rory McIlroy.

Spieth, who shot his worst score (74) for three months at Plainfield Country Club on Thursday, could only do marginally better with a second round 73 after hitting five bogies, a double bogey and four birdies.

His surprise struggles mean that McIlroy, currently recovering from an ankle injury, will return to the top of the tree despite not lifting a club this weekend as a precaution.

There were no such problems for Bubba Watson, who now has a one-shot lead over the rest of the field after sharing a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard following day one.

The American hit a sublime five-under 65 in the first round and backed it up with a solid 68 on Friday to nudge in front on seven under overall.

Colombia's Camilo Villegas and Americans Spencer Levin and Tony Finau had a share of the lead going into day two, but they all struggled to maintain that pace.

Finau is the highest-placed out of that trio, but a bogey on the 16th scuppered his hopes of staying toe-to-toe with Watson and he sits one shot back in a four-strong cluster on six under.

There he is joined by Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who shot five birdies on the first 12 holes to push up the leaderboard, Zach Johnson and Jason Dufner.

Villegas is just behind on five under - where he is joined by Jason Bohn after the American hit six birdies in a blemish-free round to card the lowest score of the day (64).

Levin, meanwhile, is one of seven men on four under after hitting one-over par on Friday.

Spieth admitted he would need some time to work out where his week had gone wrong.

"Yeah, tough week," he said on the PGA Tour website. "I'm definitely searching for answers. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do from here as far as how I get prepared for next week but I have some time to figure it out. We don't start till Friday."

Despite the disappointment, Spieth, who remains top of the FedExCup rankings, swiftly turned his attention to the Deutsche Bank Championship as he downplayed the importance of the ranking.

"I've reached that peak already and I know it's going to be close enough to where if I just get the job done next week, I'll be back in that ranking," he said. "But again, that ranking, it's great once you reach it but it's not something that I'm going to live or die on each week. It doesn't really make much of a difference. If you go on a three- or four-year cycle, Rory is No. 1 in the world. If you go just base off of this year, I am. They just use two years.

"In my mind, it's just about trying to win the FedExCup at this point."

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Shane Lowry Now Nineteen

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Shane Lowry heads into this week’s US PGA Championship at a career-high 19th in the world after claiming the biggest victory of his career in brilliant fashion in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Lowry carded a flawless final round of 66 at Firestone Country Club to finish 11 under par, two shots ahead of double Masters champion Bubba Watson, with former US Open champions Justin Rose and Jim Furyk another two shots back.

“It’s hard to believe but I played good today,” Lowry told Sky Sports 4. “I was quite nervous out there towards the end but made a lot of good decisions, hit the ball well and got a bit of luck as well which was nice.

“It’s great to be able to pull something off. I was kind of doubting myself a little this year, things haven’t been going my way but when you come out the other end it’s always nice.”

Lowry began the final round two shots off the lead but wiped out the deficit with birdies on the second and eighth before a spectacular recovery over the trees on the 10th set up another from two feet.

That gave the 28-year-old a two-shot lead and although Watson twice closed within a shot, Lowry found himself needing to par the last two holes for victory.

After his approach to the 17th ran up against the collar of rough Lowry produced an excellent chip and held his nerve to hole from five feet, but looked to be in trouble when he pulled his tee shot on the last into the trees.

However, the former Irish Open champion – he was still an amateur when he won the title in 2009 – found a good lie in the rough and powered a wedge over the trees to 11 feet, from where he holed for a birdie to make certain of the first prize of 1,570,000 US dollars.

“I was trying to get it on the front right of the green but pulled it a little bit, it went through the tree and rest is history,” added Lowry, who missed the cut on his US PGA debut at Whistling Straits in 2010.

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Lowry Wins WGC-Bridgestone

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Shane Lowry shot a flawless final round of 66 to win the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron and claim his third European Tour title.

The Irishman fired four birdies on Sunday to finish the tournament on 11 under par, two shots ahead of two time Major Champion Bubba Watson.

Lowry began the final round at Firestone Country Club two shots off the lead held by overnight co-leaders Justin Rose and Jim Furyk, but he wiped out the deficit with birdies on the second and eighth holes.

The 28 year old began his back nine with a birdie on the tenth to take a two shot lead over the chasing pack on ten under par.

Furyk went within a shot of Lowry when he sank his five foot birdie putt on the 11th, only to bogey the next and drop back to eight under.

Lowry maintained his two shot advantage with a superb par save from 20 feet on the 14th after finding a fairway bunker off the tee.

Lowry's lead was cut to one shot when Watson fired his sixth birdie of the day at the 17th to go to nine under par.

But he held his nerve and went 11 under par when he sank his six foot putt at the last to win his first WGC title.

Rose and Furyk finished in a share of third place on seven under, with Robert Streb one shot further back.

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Shane Second in Akron

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Shane Lowry Firestoned Akron with a second round 66 to sit four behind outright leader Jim Furyk’s to seize a share of second at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Lowry signed for a four under par card and remains in the chase alongside Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson.

A booming 300 yard drive down the 11th left an approach of just 111 yards and he would spin that in to six feet to roll in the birdie that moved him into second place on his own.

It was the 14th however that possibly proved to be Lowry’s key hole. A misjudged second shot saw his ball scuttle into the bunker at the back of the green but from there he would flip it out to 10 feet before rolling in a crucial, clutch par putt.

That save would give him the momentum to find the back of the par three 15th green from where he rolled in a long birdie putt to close the gap yet further on Jim Furyk.

Pars at the 16th and the 17th saw him go to the final hole three behind the lead. However, a bogey there after his second shot flew the green meant that he signed for a 66 and had to settle for a total of four under par going into the weekend.

It could have all been even better as well, were it not for a short missed par putt at the ninth, his last. That bogey came after three birdies in four holes, including a beautifully played flop shot at the fifth which found the bottom of the cup for a two.

Graeme McDowell battled hard to remain in contention as he looks to improve on a dismal season so far.

As steady starts go McDowell had the steadiest of all, opening with 10 straight pars as he played the course the opposite way around.

However, trouble around the green at the 11th would see the 2010 US Open card a six and drop back a shot.

A birdie two holes later at the fourth, thanks to an exquisite approach to two feet, was nullified by a bogey at the sixth.

Three straight pars to finish the round was enough to see the 36-year-old sign for a one over par 71, leaving him nicely placed going into the weekend.

For Padraig Harrington it was a second successive two over par 72 as he failed to get any sort of birdie run together.

Level par for the round going to the 13th Harrington would fail to make par and followed that bogey up with another at the 14th to slip back to four over for the tournament.

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McIlroy No Rub of Green

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Rory McIlroy admitted he had doubts over his putting after squandering a number of chances to get back into contention for the US Open in the third round.

The world No 1 was again impressive from tee to green at Chambers Bay, but he needed 31 putts in a frustrating level-par 70 that left him on four over par for the tournament.

McIlroy, who has now had 96 putts over 54 holes, started confidently with the short stick as he holed a great putt for par from 15 feet at the first and nailed another from similar distance for birdie at the second.

He converted another sublime approach at the seventh, but he missed "seven good chances" on the back nine and dropped shots at the 11th and 15th before holing from 12 feet to salvage a par-five at the last.

"I missed seven good chances on the back nine, or seven makeable putts, anyway," said McIlroy, who dropped shots on the 11th and 15th. "It was just nice to see one drop at the last there. I feel like I turned a 65 into a 70 today.

"Whenever you start to miss a couple you start to get a little tentative. You start to doubt yourself. You start to doubt the greens a little bit. And then it just sort of snowballs from there. I holed a few nice ones early on, but once I missed a couple it got into my head and couldn't really get out of it."

Henrik Stenson had likened the greens to putting on broccoli after the second round, but McIlroy joked: "I don't think they're as green as broccoli. I think they're more like cauliflower.

"They are what they are, everyone has to putt on them. It's all mental. Some guys embrace it more than others, and that's really the way it is. It is disappointing that they're not in a bit better shape. But the newer greens like seven and 13, they're perfect.

"I played last Sunday and I felt like they (the USGA) brought it a little too much towards the brink then. And it's always a struggle from then to sort of rein it back little bit. I would have liked to see them keep it a little greener for the practice rounds and then gradually as the tournament progresses get a little firmer.

"That might have kept the greens in a bit better shape, but you never know. I've never been here before, but I hear that the weather isn't always like this. If there had been a little bit of moisture and had it been overcast the greens might not have gotten baked out and as bumpy as they are."

McIlroy admitted he was frustrated to four-putt the 17th and drop another shot on the 18th in his second round, but was happy to have ground out a score after missing the cut in his previous two events.

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McIlroy Open US with 72

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Rory McIlroy endured another frustrating day with the putter as he opened his US Open campaign with an erratic two-over 72 at Chambers Bay.

The world No 1 was in good touch from tee to green, but he failed to convert a number of birdie chances as he struggled to get to grips with the mottled putting surfaces.

McIlroy did get an early putt to drop for birdie at the 11th - his second - although he dropped shots at 14 and 15 before getting back to level par with a fine approach at the next and a putt to match.

Several further opportunities went begging as he parred the next eight holes, and his frustration got the better of him when he bogeyed two of the last three to slide seven shots off the lead.

But the 2011 champion refused to blame the poor quality of the green for his performance and insisted the course was set up "fair" for the tournament. 

"They are not the best I have putted on but I should be used to it as the last two tournaments I've played have been just as bad," said McIlroy, who missed the cut in both the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and Irish Open at Royal County Down.

"I felt like I played well tee to green and gave myself a lot of looks but did not take advantage of the good shots I was hitting. There were a couple of misreads and a couple of bad strokes in there as well.

"It's hard to pick the line and trust it and then you start making tentative strokes and you are not getting a true roll on the ball. I need to work on that before tomorrow's round and see if I can figure something out."

McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Henrik Stenson shared the early clubhouse lead with Dustin Johnson after both fired 65s, and the Northern Irishman added: "It was set up fair and you see some of the scores that are already in. There are definitely scores in the mid-60s are out there.

"It re-iterates what I was thinking, which is that you can be very aggressive with your tee shots. It's not a typical US Open where you are playing a game of chess."

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