Who won the last Ryder Cup? Results and how 2018 Ryder Cup unfolded

It’s been three years since the last Ryder Cup was contested in France
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The 43rd Ryder Cup gets under way on Friday at Wisconsin, USA as the United States and Europe go head to head again.

The two teams have been selected for the tournament at the Whistling Straits course, as the Ryder Cup returns after a three-year gap.

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Supposed to be held every two years, it was postponed last year due to Covid, giving the two captains an extra 12 months to prepare their squads.

Team USA came into the contest as holders, having won in 2016 at Hazeltine. Here’s how the 2018 Ryder Cup unfolded.

Who won the last Ryder Cup?

The 42nd Ryder Cup was held in 2018 on the Albatros Course in Guyancourt, outside of Paris, France.

It was only the second time the Ryder Cup has been held in continental Europe, following on from the 1997 contest which was held in Spain. The other times the tournament had been held in Europe, it was played in Great Britain or Ireland.

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Europe regained the Ryder Cup, winning by 17½ points to 10½.

How was the 2018 Ryder Cup won?

Holders USA came out strongly, and led 3-1 after the morning fourballs, with the pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari sparing Europe’s blushes by beating Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed.

However, an astonishing turnaround saw Europe claim a first clean sweep of the afternoon foursomes in the history of the Ryder Cup as they ended the day 5–3 ahead of Team USA.

The Saturday fourballs saw Europe continue to dominate with a 3-1 overall win. Team USA secured their only point of the morning session with Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth defeating Ian Poulter and John Rahm 2 & 1, to leave the overall tournament at 8–4 in Team Europe’s favour.

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The afternoon session was drawn 2–2. It saw Team Europe’s Molinari and Fleetwood win for the fourth time, a European record in the Ryder Cup. It meant Europe led 10-6 going into the singles.

The United States put their best players at the top of the card on Sunday, and threatened a comeback as they won 3½ points from the first four matches.

However, from then on Europe dominated, winning the next six matches to lead 16½–9½.

The 14½-point winning post was officially reached when Phil Mickelson, already three holes down, found the water on the 16th hole and conceded the hole and match to Molinari, who became the first player for Europe to score what is now the maximum possible five points in a single Ryder Cup.

The remaining two matches were shared between the teams, leaving the final score 17½–10½ to Europe and captain Thomas Bjorn.

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