History-making Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald endured the “most stressful 12 hours” of his life after Europe narrowly fought off a United States comeback.
Victory looked a formality after a stunning opening two days at Bethpage Black saw them take a record-breaking 11.5-4.5 into Sunday’s singles.
When Viktor Hovland pulled out of his match with Harris English due to a neck injury and both sides were awarded half a point, Donald’s men needed just two points from the 11 remaining matches.
They were hunting victory by a record margin, but were instead facing the prospect of a record comeback as Keegan Bradley’s side roared back into contention.
A wave of early points gave the US hope until Shane Lowry’s half against Russell Henley ensured the trophy was retained, with Tyrrell Hatton winning it outright during the 10th match.
“It’s been the most stressful 12 hours in my life,” a relieved Donald said.
“I knew it would be tough. I didn’t think they would be this tough on Sunday, they fought so hard, and all the respect to them.
“But this means a lot obviously to me and the team. We came here knowing that the task was very difficult.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys and what they have done through, how they have come together, how they are playing for history, how they are playing for the people that came before them, and now there will be talk for generations to come as someone going down in history. Couldn’t be more proud.”
Donald created history by becoming the first man to win the Ryder Cup home and away as a player and captain.
“I was just fortunate to have a team that knew me and trusted me,” he said. “That’s all I’ve ever tried to do, just be the best prepared I can be.
“So many different things I went into this deal with, the environment, the communication with the players.”
Victory was Europe’s first away from home since the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ in 2012 and just their fifth on American soil.
Donald revealed that those past wins were used as an inspiration.
“Our theme was we were trying to win for a fifth time away. We talked about it at the beginning of the week,” he said.
“The practise shirts were based off the wins we had already had away in ’87, ’95, ’04, 2012.
“Everything we did was centred around that, and to make the guys feel that we had done it quite often.
“In 10 Ryder Cups since ’83, we had won four of them and we had come damn close three other times. This wasn’t an impossible task.
“We knew it was going to be difficult. We wanted to inspire them to know it could be done.
“My job, again, is to give them the reasons to make them believe that they can win. So that was really our theme.”
