Few things are left to be decided on Sunday at Whistling Straits. Of them: A) the final margin of victory for Team USA and B) what to call this American beatdown. We have a few ideas, ala “War by the Shore” and “Miracle at Medinah”: “Slaughter at the Straits,” “Dire Straits” (for the Europeans) or “The Wipe Out at Whistling.” (“Flushed at Kohler” is pretty good, too.)
In all seriousness, the American side will be out for blood on Sunday—they have a chance to secure the largest point differential in Ryder Cup history (since continental Europe joined GB&I in 1979). They’ll need eight of a possible 12 points to exceed 18½, achieved twice by Europe in 2004 and 2006 and once by the Americans in 1981. No team has won less than 3 ½ points in singles, which is what the U.S. needs to win the Ryder Cup—so like we said, with the Europeans matched up against eight of the top-10 ranked players in the world, this is essentially a wrap. After all, according to the odds, the Americans are favored in 11 of the 12 singles matches (Jon Rahm is the only favorite to beat Scottie Scheffler, per the odds).
Sunday still carries intrigue, starting with the opening match. Rory McIlroy leads the Europeans out in singles for the third consecutive Ryder Cup. He’s lost the first singles match in 2016 (Patrick Reed) and 2018 (Justin Thomas), and after what has been his worst Ryder Cup performance, a first point will be against Xander Schauffele, who’s undefeated thus far.
Shane Lowry should deliver an inspired performance for the Europeans; Jon Rahm vs. Scottie Scheffler should be fantastic; Collin Morikawa vs. Viktor Hovland is a battle of the game’s two brightest young stars; just to name a few.
Here are the singles matches on tap at Whistling Straits (all times eastern):
MATCH 1 (12:04 p.m.): Xander Schauffele vs Rory McIlroy
MATCH 2 (12:15 p.m.): Patrick Cantlay vs Shane Lowry
MATCH 3 (12:26 p.m.): Scottie Scheffler vs Jon Rahm
MATCH 4 (12:37 p.m.): Bryson DeChambeau vs Sergio Garcia
MATCH 5 (12:48 p.m.): Collin Morikawa vs Viktor Hovland
MATCH 6 (12:59 p.m.): Dustin Johnson vs Paul Casey
MATCH 7 (1:10 p.m.): Brooks Koepka vs Bernd Wiesberger
MATCH 8 (1:21 p.m.): Tony Finau vs Ian Poulter
MATCH 9 (1:32 p.m.): Justin Thomas vs Tyrrell Hatton
MATCH 10 (1:43 p.m.): Harris English vs Lee Westwood
MATCH 11 (1:54 p.m.): Jordan Spieth vs Tommy Fleetwood
MATCH 12 (2:05 p.m.): Daniel Berger vs Matt Fitzpatrick
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