http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/03/sports/golf/ryder-cup-united-states-beats-europe-hazeltine.html 2016-10-02 23:28:53 U.S. Captures Ryder Cup, Ending Europe’s Streak The Americans clinched their first victory in the biennial event since 2008 when Ryan Moore, the last man named to the team, won his singles match. === CHASKA, Minn. — The United States clinched the 41st Ryder Cup on Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club when Ryan Moore, the last man named to the team, won his singles match with his European opponent, Lee Westwood, by 1-up to give the Americans 15 points. The United States had not won the biennial event since 2008, with the Europeans having won the previous three titles, and eight of the past 10. The Americans took a 3-point lead into the final day but saw the Europeans pull to within a point with victories in three of the first four completed matches. In desperation, Europe’s captain, Darren Clarke, had front-loaded his singles lineup. His strategy sent shivers through the partisan crowds when no American player in the first five matches held a lead after the first nine holes. The Europeans were ahead in three of them, and they went on to win 2 of the first 3 points of the day. Patrick Reed gave the United States its first point in singles with a 1-up victory against Rory McIlroy in a match that featured exquisite shotmaking by both players. Reed finished the event with a 3-1-1 record, and he looked every bit the top-five player that he proclaimed himself to be in 2014, when he was ranked 20th in the world, 14 spots behind McIlroy, a former No. 1. The victory required three days of intense playing and two years of intensive planning. Immediately after the Americans endured their third consecutive defeat, in Scotland in 2014, one of the losing players, Phil Mickelson, called for an overhaul of the United States system to create a new model that emphasized team-building and included more player input. Mickelson, an 11-time Ryder Cup participant, was included in an 11-person task force that instituted a more collaborative approach involving current players, former Ryder Cup participants and the P.G.A. of America, which runs the event. Another member of the task force was Rickie Fowler, who was one of four discretionary selections this year by the American captain, Davis Love III. Love was also the captain of the United States squad that lost the Cup the last time it was held on home soil, in 2012 outside Chicago. He described his 2016 leadership role as “a fresh start.”