Europe’s surprising Ryder Cup secret sauce, Rory McIlroy’s epic viral moment and an all-time golf prediction comes true

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where we’ve never had a tougher goodbye than having to drop my golf clubs off to be shipped at a … Walgreens? Little did I know the drugstore doubled as a FedEx Cup pickup and after the first spot I drove to was “Temporarily closed on Thursdays” (?!), that’s where Google Maps led me. It was hard watching a woman drag my sticks upside down in a soft case into a back room, but, magically, thankfully, they got to Hilton Head.

Hopefully, all in one piece for a buddies trip later this week. So I’ll see you soon, my loves! In the meantime, there was a pretty big golf event going on near me that I had the pleasure of covering. Let’s talk about it, shall we?

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WE’RE BUYING

Tommy Fleetwood’s ball-striking: I’ve previously joked that Tommy Fleetwood when trailing by a big margin entering the final round of a major is one of the greatest golfers of all time, but Tommy Fleetwood in a Ryder Cup actually is. In terms of percentage of points won, Fleetwood is Europe’s greatest player ever and in terms of strokes gained, he was by far the best player of the week at Bethpage Black during Europe’s wild 15-13 victory.

Jared C. Tilton

Which shouldn’t have been too surprising given his past history in this event and the fact that he was the best player in the FedEx Cup Playoffs as well. And he also led the event in strokes-gained class. Pulling Justin Thomas in for an embrace after losing to JT in crushing fashion might be the moment I remember most from Bethpage Black.

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What a stud. What a lad.

Justin Rose’s putting: Speaking of class, how about this guy just aging like a fine wine? Especially on the greens, where Rose put forth one of the greatest putting displays in golf history on Saturday, gaining an astonishing 4.56 strokes and picking up more than four times more than any other player.

Richard Heathcote

And this wasn’t some fluke. The 45-year-old Brit easily led in strokes gained/putting for a second straight Ryder Cup. It’s another notch on a Hall-of-Fame career, but can you imagine if those two Masters playoffs had gone his way? He’d be an all-time great. Regardless, he’s an all-time Ryder Cup great.

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Rory McIlroy’s resiliency: As is this guy, who put forth another strong effort in this event despite facing brutal circumstances. McIlroy played fantastic even while being Public Enemy No. 1 on Long Island and facing constant verbal abuse. He also didn’t always turn the other cheek. One of the most amazing clips of the week was Rory telling someone to “Shut the f— up” and then promptly stuffing an approach shot to clinch a match.

McIlroy wasn’t perfect, both with his play or his reactions that riled up the crowd even more. But no top gun has delivered more consistently in this event through the years. And after accomplishing what he guaranteed after winning the last Ryder Cup, McIlroy added another notch on what’s the best year of his incredible career. Oh, and, obviously, I’m buying Team Europe as a whole, including captain Luke Donald and vice captain/statistician Edoardo Molinari. How good is he at his job? Well, how about this prediction that he made a YEAR ago:

This group is a well-oiled machine. Also, can Edoardo let me know who’s winning at Augusta in April?

Cameron Young: The biggest bright spot for the U.S. team, my fellow Westchester-Wake Forest dude was spectacular from his opening tee shot on Friday to his clutch final birdie that jumpstarted the American comeback on Sunday.

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Of course, four years ago, it was a guy who had trouble closing out wins who had a coming out party at Whistling Straits. His name was Scottie Scheffler and he’s played pretty decent since. Just saying.

WE’RE SELLING

Keegan Bradley’s decisions: I feel terrible for Captain Keegan because it’s clear how much this event means to him and that he poured everything into it after unexpectedly getting the gig last year. But the U.S. captain said after he regretted how he chose to set up the course, and there were also plenty of questionable personnel decisions throughout the week.

Michael Reaves/PGA of America

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Where was Cameron Young, a guy who was in great form and the only player on either team who had won something previously at Bethpage (the New York State Open), in Friday’s opening session? Why was Russell Henley teeing off on the odd holes instead of Scottie Scheffler on Friday? Why did it take their caddies to get that switched on Saturday? Why did he trot out Collin Morikawa and Harris English—despite Data Golf ranking that as the worst of 132 possible American pairings—in foursomes on Friday. And why did he do it AGAIN on Saturday? It’s actually almost worse for Captain Keegan that this thing wound up as close as it did because now all of those decisions can be blamed as potential reasons why the U.S. lost. That being said …

Scottie Scheffler: If the U.S. team’s top player had just played like the world beater that he is, the Americans could have beaten Europe. Instead, the clear World No. 1 finished No. 7 on his own team for the week in total strokes gained.

Carl Recine

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That is an absolutely stunning stat for a player who almost literally never has an off week. And yet he wound up having his most off week of the year at the worst possible time for his teammates.

The crowd at Bethpage Black: It goes without saying that many fans—and even a first-tee emcee hired by the PGA of America!—crossed the line throughout the week, especially when it came to McIlroy. Sadly, however, it was to be expected.

Vaughn Ridley

What wasn’t as expected was the overall lack of crowd support, particularly the first two days. Look, the Americans were getting smoked, but even the first tee on Friday morning was pretty dead compared to other Ryder Cups I’ve been to. Heck, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas came out of the tunnel first draped in an American flag and the cheers subsided after maybe 10 seconds. And in between groups? It was about as quiet as Citi Field will be this week. (That’s a Mets joke, in case you didn’t get it. Because they choked their way out of the playoffs. As usual.) Anyway, the crowd—also heavily impacted by the staggering ticket prices—was a bit of a letdown and only got really good when it was more mixed on Sunday with Euro fans gobbling up cheaper tickets on the secondary market and when the U.S. finally showed made things interesting. Speaking of making things interesting …

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The envelope rule: Can you imagine if Europe had retained the Ryder Cup with a tie that was only achieved by invoking an obscure rule that hadn’t been used in 32 years? There would have been a LOT more beers thrown/slapped. I understand the arguments on both sides, and I understand that this has been a rule for more than four decades, and that it’s benefitted both sides in the past. I also understand this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison with a player getting hurt in another sport. That being said, you can’t have a rule that opens up the possibility of being exploited by a team in the lead.

David Cannon

Now I’m not saying that’s what Luke Donald did with Viktor Hovland’s neck injury, but it definitely made their decision easier knowing that he could just take a half point and put the team one step closer to winning. Had Europe been trailing by seven points, something tells me Hovland would have been on that first tee on Sunday.

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ON TAP

How do we move on from one of the biggest spectacles in golf history? With the PGA Tour getting back on track at the Sanderson Farms Championship, AKA that event in Mississippi where they play for a rooster trophy. Not exactly playing for the Ryder Cup in New York, but that rooster trophy is kind of cool, too. Oh, and in addition to having to defend my individual title belt at the third-annual Pelham High School Buddies Golf Trip, we will also have a two-team Ryder Cup as well. As long as the weather is good—which, according to at least one meteorologist, should be the case thanks to an all-time great break:

This is like the plot of “The Perfect Storm” only with (hopefully) a better outcome! Fingers crossed.

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Random tournament fact: Rasmus Hojgaard is the only golfer from last week’s Ryder Cup playing in this event. Which means there are zero golfers in the field who earned a point in last week’s Ryder Cup. Sorry, Rasmus.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—There will be another Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds

—Rasmus Hojgaard will win this week: 30-to-1 odds

—Rasmus Hojgaard will still be hungover on Thursday: LOCK

TWEET(S) OF THE WEEK

Sometimes, you’ve just gotta tip your cap.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK (MID-EVENT DIVISION)

Jamie Squire

This might sum up why Europe won better than anything.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK (POST-EVENT DIVISION)

I see what you did there, Shane. Well played.

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VIRAL VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK (PRO DIVISION)

No one has more fun on a bus than Team Europe.

Imagine partying with these guys for a night?

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (HECKLER DIVISION)

This was before things got nasty at Bethpage Black:

See? You can heckle without crossing the line.

THIS WEEK IN PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

See the above PHOTO OF THE WEEK. And VIDEO(S) OF THE WEEK. And about any other clip from the Ryder Cup’s aftermath. These guys on the European team truly have a special bond.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

The week wasn’t a total loss for the Americans as they won both the Junior Ryder Cup and Celebrity Ryder Cup! And not surprising, Eli Manning, one of New York sports’ all-time great leaders, led the way in the latter:

Michael Reaves/PGA of America

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Long live Eli The Great! (And hopefully, my Giants have finally found his long-term replacement in Jaxson Dart.)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“At the hotel rooms this week, the doors to our hotel rooms had a big crack that let in light. We brought things that covered the light. We put different shampoos that had a better smell.” —Luke Donald on some of the little things the European team did to try to give itself an edge. Better smelling shampoo?! These guys really left no stone unturned.

THIS AND THAT

Scottie Scheffler beating Rory McIlroy on Sunday was the first time World No. 1 and No. 2 have faced off in a Ryder Cup singles match. As McIlroy admitted afterward it was a bit of a “pillow fight,” (it was the fifth match in three days for both) but still, that was pretty cool. … I just realized I didn’t have Shane Lowry’s winning putt mentioned anywhere, so let’s make sure to get that in here:

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What a moment. … I can report that Michael Jordan has his own Jumpan logo on his cigars:

Pretty baller. … And, finally, Tommy Fleetwood may have been the MVP of the Ryder Cup on the course, but off the course that honor goes to whoever was making the media center desserts all week, in particular these fudge brownies and chocolate-filled churros:

Now, it was still no Costco churro (RIP), but what a treat.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who will be the Ryder Cup captains in two years?

Who is the biggest name ever put in the envelope?

Should I buy better smelling shampoo for my Hilton Head trip?