Ryder Cup: Europe Takes Commanding Lead Into Singles Sunday

Posted on: September 30, 2023, 12:20h. 

Last updated on: October 2, 2023, 10:35h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
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The Ryder Cup culminates Sunday at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy. The odds are good the Europeans will hoist the coveted trophy.

Ryder Cup odds golf Europe US
Rory McIlroy celebrates with Tommy Fleetwood after winning their Saturday morning foursomes match against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. The Europeans are heavily favored as the 44th Ryder Cup heads into Sunday’s singles matches. (Image: Getty)

Team Europe opened up the 44th playing of the Ryder Cup Matches in dominating fashion. The Europeans won five of the eight matches on Friday and halved the other three to take a five-point advantage into Saturday’s foursomes and fourball.

The home team carried momentum into Saturday morning, winning three of the four alternate shot matches. The morning was highlighted by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg’s 9&7 win over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka. Rory McIlroy also remained undefeated with a 2&1 win with Tommy Fleetwood over Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

Max Homa and Brian Harman delivered the US its first 2023 Ryder Cup match victory with a 4&2 victory over Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton closed the Saturday morning session with a win against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele for the Europeans.

Afternoon Comeback

The US mounted a comeback during Saturday afternoon’s fourballs. Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa took down a hot Hovland and Aberg 4&3. Homa and Harman paired up again to take down Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard 2&1.

In the third match, Europe temporarily slowed the US charge, with Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre beating Thomas and Spieth 3&2.

McIlroy’s unblemished 2023 Ryder Cup ended at the hands of Cantlay, who rolled in birdie putts on the 17th and 18th holes to squeak out a one-up victory paired with Wyndham Clark. McIlroy missed his birdie putt on the 18th, and his partner, Matt Fitzpatrick, left his birdie try short.

With just 12 singles matches left and Europe holding a five-point advantage, sportsbooks both stateside and overseas agree that the home team is the betting favorite.

DraftKings has Europe at -1000, or an implied chance of 91%. A winning $100 bet nets just $10. William Hill, a popular bookmaker in the UK and throughout Europe, has the Europeans even shorter at -1200. That would only pay $8.33 on a $100 wager should tomorrow go Europe’s way.

The US is at +1000 at DraftKings and +1200 at William Hill. A $100 bet and an unprecedented comeback would net $1,000 and $1,200 respectively.

The largest comeback in Ryder Cup history is just four points. It happened in 1999 when the Americans famously overcame a four-point deficient at the Country Club in Brookline, MA., to shock the Europeans 14.5-13.5.

Sunday Singles

Captains Zach Johnson of the US and Luke Donald of Team Europe are finalizing Sunday’s matches. The pairings will be listed at the link below once the matches are determined.

2023 Ryder Cup scoring.