Hatton comes off bench to deliver big finish as Europe closes in on the Ryder Cup

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Tyrrell Hatton was a last-minute replacement Saturday afternoon in Fourballs. He helped deliver the final point with a furious four-birdie finish, putting the finishing touches on Europe’s historic two-day performance that has all but clinched the Ryder Cup.

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Hatton, filling in for injured Viktor Hovland (neck), partnered with fellow Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick to beat Americans Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns, 1 up. Both Hatton and Fitzpatrick knocked their approach shots close on 18 for a conceded winning birdie, followed by an impromptu celebration with the European fans in what now appears to be a formality.

In winning both Saturday sessions by identical 3-1 scores, Luke Donald’s team has a commanding 11.5 to 4.5 lead, becoming the first team on either side since 1979 to achieve 11.5 points in the first four sessions. The U.S. would have to produce an historic rally to win the Ryder Cup; on the flip side, Europe will seek to break the modern record of largest winning margin since the Ryder Cup went to 28 points, set just four years ago by the U.S. with a 19-9 victory at Whistling Straits.

Hatton’s was clutch down the stretch, ending the match with four consecutive birdies to hold off the Americans’ rally. He holed a 6-foot birdie putt at the 15th, a 20-footer at the 16th and an 11-footer at the 17th to match Cantlay’s birdies, then received credit for the final birdie that could’ve also gone to Fitzpatrick.

“For us to finish with four birdies in the last four – amazing,” Hatton said.

He had expected to have the afternoon off after his Foursomes win with Jon Rahm in the morning, but Donald had warned him that Hovland might not be able to go. Hatton got the notice while he was staying loose on the range.

“All of a sudden, it was a complete switch in my mental state,” Hatton said. “I feel like I struggled for periods out there today. But to play like that at the end was really pleasing.”

Hatton is now 3-0-0 this week, two of those victories with Rahm. The Legion XIII captain had also hoped to remain undefeated, but he and Sepp Straka lost 1-up to Xander Schauffele and J.J. Spaun, the latter making birdies on the final two holes to give the Americans their only win of the afternoon session.

Rahm and Straka never trailed until Spaun’s short birdie putt at the 18th hole won the match. The Europeans were 2 up at the turn before Spaun, the U.S. Open champ, heated up on the back nine.

Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler lost to Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose, 3 & 2, in an emotionally charged match dominated by Rose’s stellar play.

DeChambeau and Scheffler, the two American alpha dogs renewing their partnership from the 2021 Ryder Cup, looked good early. Scheffler opened with consecutive birdies to match Rose’s birdies. Then after Rose added a three straight birdie to win the third, DeChambeau followed with one of the best shots of the tournament, nearly recording an albatross from 193 yards with his second shot at the par-5 fourth. Instead, he tapped-in for eagle to win the hole. DeChambeau followed with a birdie at the par-4 fifth to give the American duo the lead.

But Rose kept his hot hand, posting birdies at the seventh and eight holes to regain the lead. From there, the U.S. team won just a single hole the rest of the way on DeChambeau’s birdie at the 11th.

“Bryson and I did some good stuff out there,” said Scheffler, the first American player ever to lose a match in each of the first four sessions of a Ryder Cup. “We were into a tough matchup today. Those guys played great. They made a ton of putts and really tip of a cap to them. They played better than we did. Bryson did a great job battling all day. Did a really good job keeping us in the match, but overall, just didn't do enough.”

Winning the Ryder Cup seems like an impossibility now, but DeChambeau has not given up hope.

“Tomorrow anything can happen,” he said. “I know it's quite lopsided, but it would make for a great comeback story.”

SATURDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Bryson DeChambeau won a Foursomes match for the first time in his Ryder Cup career. In the process, he may have found himself a suitable American partner.

European teammates Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, meanwhile, continue to prove they are the perfect partners in Ryder Cup Foursomes.

And the bigger picture? Europe won three of the four Saturday morning matches at Bethpage Black to extend its lead to 8.5 to 3.5, moving closer to an unprecedented blowout on foreign soil as they become the first away team to win each of the first three sessions of a Ryder Cup.

DeChambeau and New York native Cameron Young rolled past the European duo of Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg, 4 & 2, to give the U.S. its only victory of the session. It’s DeChambeau’s first win this week and his first Foursomes win after losing his previous three, including Friday’s loss with Justin Thomas.

Rahm and Hatton, the Legion XIII teammates, led for all but one hole in their 3 & 2 win over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. That moved their Foursomes record to 4-0-0 – and 4-0-1 overall as Ryder Cup partners.

Young is DeChambeau’s sixth different career partner and third this week – and he was certainly the most impactful that DeChambeau has paired with.

Both players provided key fist-pumping moments for the U.S., starting on the opening hole when Young followed DeChambeau’s opening 323-yard drive with an approach to tap-in range for birdie.

“We wanted to prove to the captain that we were right for the job,” DeChambeau said. “Cam played unbelievable today. Hitting that wedge shot super close on 1 and getting up and keeping that pressure on them, fortunately we stuck it out and played really well coming in.”

Aberg halved the hole with an 11-foot birdie putt, but Young provided more fireworks on the par-3 third when he chipped in from the fringe for birdie to give the U.S. duo its first lead. They gave it right back at the par-5 fourth after DeChambeau found the greenside bunker, with the Americans losing the hole with a par – the only hole won by the European duo all match.

The U.S. took the lead for good by winning the seventh with a par. Young’s tee shot to 3 feet won the par-3 eighth, and DeChambeau halved the ninth thanks to a 17-foot birdie putt. The U.S. won the 10th with another par, and DeChambeau’s terrific approach at the 12th set up a birdie putt to halve the hole. Young then closed it out with an 11-foot birdie at the 16th.

“Cam just struck it unbelievable today with his irons,” the Crushers GC captain said. “It was nice having a couple of two-footers to tap in, so it was sweet. We played really well, and we putted it well. … Even though it was just one point, it's a small victory but it's a victory we needed to get the boys fired up.”

But it may not matter after Europe won the final three matches of the session, including the other match involving LIV Golf players.

Rahm and Hatton won the first two holes of their match but saw the veteran American duo tie it up with two pars at the fifth and seventh holes.

That’s when Rahm struck the shot of the week. After Hatton’s tee shot at the par-3 eighth finished in the rough next to the greenside bunker, Rahm had to stand in the bunker, the ball above his feet, and a downhill slope on the green.

The ball tracked right into the pin, and the Americans never won another hole.

“It was very exciting,” said Rahm, who is a career 6-0-0 in Foursomes. “You obviously don't want to get too high, right? We had not played our best golf on the hole before. Besides that going in, it wasn't looking too bright for us. They had just squared the match. … It's an incredible, incredible moment. But there's still so much golf ahead that I didn't let myself get too high.”

Added Hatton: “He pulls out some unbelievable shots at very special times. Yeah, he's an incredible player, and a good person to walk the fairways with.”

Rahm wasn’t through with his heroics, hitting a great approach at the 12th that Hatton converted for birdie. It was one of several key Hatton putts that kept the pressure on the Americans.

“We've shared the golf course for many, many holes, and it's absolutely incredible watching him play,” Rahm said of Hatton. “What he did on the greens today was nothing short of spectacular. At one point, we were basically out of the fairway and out of the green. We just somehow stayed in and stayed in and won some holes at the end.”

SATURDAY FOURSOMES RESULTS

• DeChambeau/Young (USA) def. Fitzpatrick/Aberg (Europe), 4 & 2
• McIlroy/Fleetwood (Europe) def. English/Morikawa (USA), 3 & 2
• Rahm/Hatton (Europe) def. Schauffele/Cantlay (USA), 3 & 2
• MacIntyre/Hovland (Europe) def. Scheffler/Henley (USA), 1 up

SATURDAY FOURBALLS SCHEDULE

• Thomas/Young (USA) vs. McIlroy/Lowry (Europe)
• DeChambeau/Scheffler (USA) vs. Fleetwood/Rose (Europe)
• Spaun/Schauffele (USA) vs. Rahm/Straka (Europe)
• Burns/Cantlay (USA) vs. Hatton/Fitzpatrick (Europe)