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By DOUG FERGUSON
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) – Europe has been waiting two long years for this moment when the Ryder Cup has been put in his hands.
Exactly when it arrived Sunday was not clear, which makes everything better.
Around the same time, Francesco Molinari and Sergio Garcia managed to tie at least half a point in two singles matches at Golf National separated by 150 yards of water. to regain the Ryder Cup of Americans.
While the celebration was just beginning, Molinari completed the first week 5-0 at the Ryder Cup for a European.
Three of these points were at the expense of Tiger Woods, who left France without bringing anything. Molinari won his singles match against Phil Mickelson, officially scoring the winning point of the table for Europe and scoring Mickelson to the record book for the greatest number of defeats in the history of the Ryder Cup.
Garcia then won his match to set the record for most points in career in the history of the Ryder Cup.
It was like that all week.
Europe has produced old and new stars with a team that is still strong.
"We were right this week," said European captain Thomas Bjorn. "We never, never looked to their team about what they were. We were about us as a team and what we do. … Everything this Ryder Cup was, I think, should be the Ryder Cup for a European team. "
It's all about winning.
The final shot came from Alex Noren, who after conceding a small birdie putt to Bryson DeChambeau on the 18th hole, managed a 40-foot putt to win the match.
That made 17½-10½, the biggest defeat of the Ryder Cup in 12 years.
Two years after the Americans thought they were solving their Ryder Cup problems, Europe reminded them on Sunday which team had practically owned this brilliant gold trophy for a quarter of a century.
Europe has now won nine of the last twelve matches. The Americans have not won since 1993.
And American Captain Jim Furyk could not do much about it.
"They played good golf this week and I take my hat off," said Furyk. "Thomas was a better captain and their team beat us. And you can not say anything more. They deserved to win.
Molinari was as lonely as Tommy Fleetwood's, and the best year of his life as a golfer has improved somewhat. A little over two months ago, he was posing with this silver carafe at the British Open as the first major champion of Italy. It was also nice because it was a trophy he shared with a team.
"This team has been incredible since the beginning," said Molinari. "We were determined to do the job. Nothing was going to stop us. And you have seen it on the course.
It was the most unbalanced victory since the consecutive victories of 18½ to 9½ won by Europe more than ten years ago, when the Americans seemed completely lost. They formed a Ryder Cup task force after the 2014 defeat. The idea was to create continuity and momentum, and it seemed to work when the Americans won the Hazeltine victory in 2016.
Now, maybe it comes back to the drawing board.
"Let's be honest, the European side played exquisite golf," said Mickelson.
The same can not be said of Mickelson or Woods, two giants of their generation, both of whom have lost records in the Ryder Cup.
Mickelson did not even play Saturday and lost his games Friday and Sunday. He started the week setting a record with his 12th participation in the Ryder Cup, which ended in 22 losses, a record for both sides. At 48, he might not have another chance.
"I have not played well this year," said Mickelson. "It could very well, realistically, by my last."
Woods was 0-4, the first time in eight Ryder Cups that he failed to bring a single point. It was a week after he returned to his career after winning the league title four times, his 80th career on the PGA Tour and his first place in more than five years.
But he seemed to lack energy on the course and certainly in his speech of the last two days.
"It's disappointing because I did 0-4, and that's four points for the European team," he said. "And I'm one of the factors contributing to the loss of the cup and it's not very fun. It's frustrating because I thought we all played very well and I just did not perform at the level I played, and I was late at the beginning of the matches and I did not I have never returned. "
But it concerned more Europeans as a team and they were more difficult than ever on a course they know well.
After being 10-6 at the start of the last day of singles, the Americans had to put the red dots on the board early in order to create momentum. This has never happened. Justin Thomas won the match against Rory McIlroy but not before the 18th hole.
Webb Simpson and Tony Finau, the only brilliant player among the wild card selections for Furyk, won easily. Behind them, Woods fought against Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson was starting to overtake Ian Poulter.
"There is always a moment when it sounds like a spark of light," Furyk said. "When it was there for us, Europe played really well."
It's not long.
Rahm has won two consecutive holes with peers to take control. Johnson went into the water on the 13th during a four-hole slide that took him from 1 to 2, a match won by Poulter.
Thorbjorn Olesen, who had only played one game in the previous two days, won 5 points on Jordan Spieth and won the 14-hole win. Spieth now has 0-6 singles in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
Garcia was in tears.
He played so badly this year that he failed to qualify for the PGA Tour playoffs. Bjorn chose it anyway, claiming he was the heart and soul of the European team, and Garcia responded with a 3-1 score. His victory over Rickie Fowler gave him 25½ points in a Ryder Cup career that started in 1999.
"I think a lot of people thought that the Ryder Cup was over before it was played," Garcia said. "And I guess, unfortunately, they chose the wrong team."
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For more AP golf coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Golf
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