What is it about Irish golfers and their ability to deliver in the closing stages of the Ryder Cup?
Ireland’s record in singles in modern Ryder Cups is an impressive 17 wins, 12 losses, seven halves, the best performer being Graeme McDowell winning three out of four, while Rory McIlroy has won four out of eight, with one halved match.
Even more notable, though, is how often it comes down to an Irishman to deliver the crucial moment, with several players holing a putt to effectively retain or win the cup under the greatest of pressure.
Rory McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington are Ireland’s greatest players, but the situation has not fallen to them to play that key Sunday role in tight contests. Harrington beating Mark Calcavecchia in 2002 certainly helped the cause, while McIlroy’s crowning singles moment came when he beat the in-form Keegan Bradley in 2012 after sleeping in and only arriving 10 minutes before his tee time, as Europe pulled off the Miracle of Medinah.
RM Block
It is partly because of being among the strongest players on their teams, it was too early to be the one to finish it off. Darren Clarke fell into a similar situation on home soil in 2006. It felt like he spiritually clinched the Ryder Cup that year at The K Club, after an emotional week not long after his wife passed away, as he beat Zach Johnson in singles. But Henrik Stenson missed the memo and snuck in advance of him a few minutes earlier to hole the putt. “Unfortunately, Henrik here ...” Clarke started in the post-tournament press conference afterwards, before correcting himself “fortunately, Henrik holed the winning putt.”
With his heroic half against Russell Henley, holing a six-foot birdie putt to retain the cup, Shane Lowry became the latest player to add to an Irish tradition that began back in 1957 when Christy O’Connor snr beat Dow Finsterwald 7&6 to clinch the match on the 12th hole at Lindrick Golf Club in England.
It was Great Britain and Ireland’s only win in the Ryder Cup between 1933 and 1979. The lack of competitiveness of the contest led to the expansion to include Europe in 1979, where Seve Ballesteros’s passion fuelled the event that we know and love today.
Since then, it has often fallen to middle-order players to win it and some unheralded Irish players have had moments that their careers have been defined by. Here are some of the key Irish singles moments that have won a Ryder Cup.
Eamonn Darcy – Muirfield Village 1987
Eamonn Darcy’s crowning moment was special for a lot of reasons as he pulled out a crucial victory over Ben Crenshaw at Muirfield Village to help Europe win their first Ryder Cup on US soil. Darcy had failed to win a point in nine previous matches, while an Irish player had not won a singles match since 1969. And it came against Crenshaw, one of the US team’s best players.
Crenshaw had been struggling with his putter and broke it in frustration on the sixth hole, and had to use a 1 iron for the rest of the round. With the score level heading to the final hole, Darcy converted a six-foot par putt to win the match. Seve Ballesteros later sealed the deal by beating Curtis Strange, but Darcy’s win against the odds was considered the defining moment.
Christy O’Connor jnr – The Belfry 1989
Like Darcy before him, O’Connor jnr got his only Ryder Cup point when it mattered and followed in the footsteps of his uncle to be a part of a team to beat the Americans. With the match all square on 18 and Fred Couples 50 yards ahead on the fairway after a big drive, O’Connor hit the sweetest 2 iron of his life to a few feet of the hole from 229 yards. With a 9 iron, a spooked Couples missed the green and failed to get up and down. O’Connor did not even have to putt it as the damage was done. A few minutes later, José María Cañizares holed the putt to retain the cup. Spine-tingling stuff.
Philip Walton – Oak Hill 1995
Philip Walton only ever got one point in a Ryder Cup. You guessed where it happened. With Europe charging from behind, Walton was 3 up against Jay Haas with three to go, but with Haas winning 16 and 17, all the crowd and pressure was focused on the rookie’s match. Haas could not birdie the last and with his broom-handled putter, Walton had two putts to seal the win and he took both. “It was no fun. Not at all. I was just delighted it was all over,” Walton later said of the pressure, but his name is etched in history.
Paul McGinley – The Belfry 2002
The start of Paul McGinley’s love affair with the Ryder Cup. As world number 71, it was a tough task against world number 10 Jim Furyk. Often forgotten about is that McGinley was 1 down on the 17th and holed a similar length putt to bring the match all square. The Dubliner was middle of the fairway on 18 but it was no O’Connor long iron as he pulled it left. Furyk almost holed out for birdie from the bunker, but after chipping on the green, the stage was set for McGinley from 10 feet to win the cup. Straight in, nerves of steel.
Graeme McDowell – Celtic Manor 2010
A very rare occurrence in the Ryder Cup to go down to the 12th singles match, and G-Mac may not have expected it to be as important with Europe holding a 9 ½ to 6 ½ lead going into the singles. The Americans were inspired on Sunday, though, with Rickie Fowler birdieing the last three holes from three down to sneak a surprise half against Eduardo Molinari.
With McDowell 1 up with three to play against Hunter Mahan, winning was his only option. McDowell hit a fine approach at 16 and had a sloping left-to-right putt from 15 feet. While technically the next hole clinched it, the 17th hole was more notable for Mahan’s infamous duffed chip as McDowell’s par putt was conceded.
Shane Lowry – Bethpage Black 2025
It should never have got to Shane Lowry as the USA threatened the biggest comeback in Ryder Cup history. Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy all lost 1 up on the last hole, while Matt Fitzpatrick only got a half after being 5 up on Bryson DeChambeau at one stage. With Lowry 2 down with four to play against an inspired Russell Henley, the odds were against the Offaly man but birdies at 15 and 16 got the match back to within one. On 18, Henley hit a superb shot from a fairway bunker to about 10 feet, which Lowry matched to six feet. When the American left his putt short, it was up to Lowry to retain the cup, which he duly did.
Irish matches in singles in the modern Ryder Cup (since 1979):
1979
- Des Smyth lost 5&3 to Hale Irwin
1981
- Des Smyth lost 6&4 Ben Crenshaw
- Eamonn Darcy lost 5&3 to Jack Nicklaus
1987
- Eamonn Darcy beat Ben Crenshaw 1 up
1989
- Ronan Rafferty beat Mark Calcavecchia 1 up
- Christy O’Connor jnr beat Fred Couples 1 up
1991
- David Feherty beat Payne Stewart 2 up
1995
- Philip Walton beat Jay Haas 1 up
1997
- Darren Clarke lost 2&1 to Phil Mickelson
1999
- Pádraig Harrington beat Mark O’Meara 1 up
- Darren Clarke lost 4&2 to Hal Sutton
2002
- Darren Clarke halved with David Duval
- Pádraig Harrington beat Mark Calcavecchia 5&4
- Paul McGinley halved with Jim Furyk
2004
- Darren Clarke halved with Davis Love III
- Pádraig Harrington beat Jay Haas 1 up
- Paul McGinley beat Stewart Cink 3&2
2006
- Paul McGinley halved with JJ Henry
- Darren Clarke beat Zach Johnson 3&2
- Pádraig Harrington lost 3&2 to Scott Verplank
2008
- Graeme McDowell beat Stewart Cink 2&1
- Pádraig Harrington lost 2&1 to Chad Campbell
2010
- Rory McIlroy halved with Stewart Cink
- Pádraig Harrington lost 3&2 to Zach Johnson
- Graeme McDowell beat Hunter Mahan 3&1
2012
- Rory McIlroy beat Keegan Bradley 2&1
- Graeme McDowell lost 2&1 to Zach Johnson
2014
- Graeme McDowell beat Jordan Spieth 2&1
- Rory McIlroy beat Rickie Fowler 5&4
2016
- Rory McIlroy lost 1 up to Patrick Reed
2018
- Rory McIlroy lost 1 up to Justin Thomas
2021
- Rory McIlroy beat Xander Schauffele 3&2
2023
- Rory McIlroy beat Sam Burns 3&1
- Shane Lowry halved with Jordan Spieth
2025
- Rory McIlroy lost 1 up to Scottie Scheffler
- Shane Lowry halved with Russell Henley
