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Brent Kelley

Ryder Cup: Europe Lowers the Boom, 3 Ahead Going Into Monday Singles

By , About.com GuideOctober 3, 2010

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Team Europe dominated Team USA on Sunday at the 2010 Ryder Cup, when six matches that began on Saturday were completed - and Europe nearly pitched a shutout. And in so doing, Europe probably won the Ryder Cup.

Europe won five of the six matches and halved the other, earning 5.5 of the six points at stake on Sunday.

Due to weather delays, the 2010 Ryder Cup will conclude on Monday - the first Monday finish in the event's history - with 12 singles matches.

Europe held the lead in all six matches - two foursomes and four fourballs - when darkness halted play on Saturday. Once play resumed on Sunday, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald quickly dispatched Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in alternate shot, winning 6 and 5. Woods/Stricker had been 6-0 as a team before losing, and after the win Donald is now 6-0 in foursomes in his Ryder Cup career.

There was a brief period when several of the matches seemed to be swing back the Americans' way, but the Europeans - as they so often have done in recent Ryder Cups - outplayed the Americans over the final few holes of most of the matches.

The only chance the US had for a victory disappeared on the final hole of the last match on the course, Stewart Cink/Matt Kuchar vs. Edoardo and Francesco Molinari. Cink/Kuchar took a 1-up lead to the 18th, but Francesco birdied to halve and prevent any American wins on Sunday.

Phil Mickelson also lost again on Sunday, going to 0-3 in this Ryder Cup and losing his 17th match overall in Ryder Cup play. That's the new American record for most losses in the Ryder Cup.

Why did Europe probably win the Ryder Cup on Sunday? Come-from-behind wins in the singles are exceedingly rare in Ryder Cup history, and three points is a very big deficit to overcome. The US must beat the Europeans 7.5 to 4.5 in singles on Monday in order to retain the cup. And given how the two teams are playing, there's no reason to think the Americans will win the singles session at all, much less by a 3-point margin.

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