Ryder Cup: Player ratings for Team Europe at Hazeltine
Monday 3 October 2016 06:20, UK
After Europe lost their grip on the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, we rate the performances of Darren Clarke's side.
Thomas Pieters 9/10: Five matches, four wins, and a star is born. Many questioned him as a wildcard pick, but he answered those critics in some style. Unflappable on his debut, and a great foil for McIlroy as he finished the Ryder Cup as the leading points scorer.
Rory McIlroy 8/10: The team's talisman without question, and we've never seen him so highly charged as he spent the week fighting fire with fire. Three brilliant wins with Thomas Pieters, but the energy and emotion he displayed throughout took its toll as he ran out of steam against Patrick Reed.
Rafa Cabrera Bello 8/10: Forged a brilliant partnership with fellow Spaniard Garcia, and their foursomes comeback on Saturday morning was memorable. Unlucky to be left out in the afternoon, and a cracking win over PGA champion Jimmy Walker.
Sergio Garcia 7/10: Like McIlroy, one of the main targets for abuse, but he dealt with it well. Unbeaten with Cabrera Bello, and he was incredibly unlucky to not get a singles win. Nine birdies were not enough in a sensational halved match with 10-birdie Phil Mickelson.
Henrik Stenson 7/10: A little inconsistent throughout the week, but he stuck it out for all five sessions despite a dodgy knee and did well to hold off Spieth on Sunday. Such a shame the partnership with Justin Rose that starred at Gleneagles yielded only one point.
Justin Rose 6/10: The Olympic champion struggled on the greens all week. He won good points alongside Stenson and Chris Wood, but he faded down the stretch against Rickie Fowler in a close contest on Sunday.
Chris Wood 6/10: Sat out day one, played well in a brilliant foursomes win with Rose, and then left out of the fourballs. Almost snatched a half with Dustin Johnson with a late rally on Sunday, and he deserved to have played more golf.
Matt Fitzpatrick 4/10: Hard not to sympathise with the youngster on his debut. Played only once over the first two days, and the result was done and dusted by the time he slid to defeat in his singles.
Andy Sullivan 4/10: Didn't do much wrong in his foursomes defeat with McIlroy in the opening session, but we didn't see him again until the singles. Led early against Brandt Snedeker, but the American barely missed a putt on the back nine.
Martin Kaymer 3/10: Holing "that" putt at Medinah was an all-too distant memory for the German this week. Below par in every part of his game, he lost three matches before salvaging some pride with a good comeback win over Matt Kuchar.
Danny Willett 2/10: His focus must have been affected by the exploits of his brother at the start of the week. Lost both his fourballs, and soundly thrashed by Brooks Koepka despite leading after five holes.
Lee Westwood 1/10: A 10th Ryder Cup appearance, and probably his worst. Awful on Friday morning, he did at least take himself out of the firing line before being sent out in Saturday's fourballs, when two short missed putts at 17 and 18 really hurt. His week was summed up when he was two up with three to play against Ryan Moore, who won the last three holes.
