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Tiger Woods sleepwalked his way through another disappointing Ryder Cup as the American suffered a fourth consecutive loss at Le Golf National when he was beaten 2&1 by Jon Rahm in singles on Sunday.

PARIS: Tiger Woods sleepwalked his way through another disappointing Ryder Cup as the American suffered a fourth consecutive loss at Le Golf National when he was beaten 2&1 by Jon Rahm in singles on Sunday.

After ending a five-year victory drought by winning the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Woods looked mentally drained all week in Paris.

Even in singles, the one Ryder Cup format where he had a good record, Woods could not rise to the occasion, losing for the first time since his debut against Costantino Rocca in 1997.

Woods now has 13-21-3 (wins-losses-halves) career Ryder Cup record, a puzzling statistic by arguably the greatest player of all-time, his 14 major titles second only to the 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods arrived in Paris on a high from the Tour Championship, but the expenditure of adrenaline from that victory, as well as jet lag, no doubt contributed to his mediocre play.

Coming up against opponents who played well did not help either.

On Saturday, Woods twice had the misfortune to encounter his recent nemesis, British Open champion Francesco Molinari, who teamed up with Tommy Fleetwood to go 4-0-0 in the team format.

It was Molinari who withstood Woods' charge at the British Open in July, staying calm amid frenzied scenes playing with the American, who electrified Carnoustie as he stormed into the lead halfway through the final round.

Woods on Sunday also ran into a spirited Rahm, who birdied the first hole and never looked back.

"The incredible pride I feel, to beat Tiger Woods, I grew up watching that guy," said 23-year-old Rahm.

"To play the golf I did, barely missed any shots, and to clinch it the way I did, a lot of emotions."</s>Phil Mickelson concedes after his first shot on No. 16 lands in the water, and Francesco Molinari and the European team win the Ryder Cup back. (0:38)

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France -- Payback belongs to Europe, and so does the Ryder Cup.

Two years after the Americans thought they had their Ryder Cup problems figured out, Europe reminded them Sunday why it practically has owned this shiny gold trophy for the past quarter century.

The Open champion Francesco Molinari was just as good on his own as he was with Tommy Fleetwood. The best year of the Italian's golfing life got even better at Le Golf National when he became the first European -- and only the second player since the current format began in 1979 -- to win all five of his matches.

The last one set off a wild, champagne-soaked celebration.

Europe already was assured the 14½ points it needed because it was guaranteed halves in two matches. Molinari made it official. He was 2-up and safely on the green at the par-3 16th green when Phil Mickelson hit into the water, removed his cap and conceded the match.

The finish was most appropriate.

The celebration and singing had already begun. The Europeans were treated like rock stars before more than 50,000 fans. All that remained was Alex Noren in the anchor match. He was 1-up on the 18th hole when Bryson DeChambeau stuffed his approach to 2 feet for a conceded birdie. Noren hit the final shot in this Ryder Cup, a 40-foot birdie putt to win the match, and the stoic Swede hurled his cap.

Europe won 17½-10½, the most lopsided victory since consecutive 18½-9½ victories by Europe more than a decade ago when the Americans looked utterly lost. They formed a Ryder Cup Task Force, spearheaded by Mickelson, after the 2014 loss. The idea was to build continuity and momentum, and it seemed to work when they won at Hazeltine in 2016.

Now, maybe it's back to the drawing board.

Mickelson, 48, was desperate to make this team because he saw it as his last chance to win a Ryder Cup on European soil. He wound up losing both his matches. He started the week by setting a record with his 12th Ryder Cup appearance. He ended it by setting a more dubious Ryder Cup record with 22 losses.

Phil Mickelson, right, shakes hands with Francesco Molinari's caddie after conceding the match, thereby finalizing Europe's Ryder Cup win over the United States. Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

He wasn't alone. Tiger Woods went 0-4, the first time in his eight Ryder Cups that he failed to contribute a single point.

But this was more about the Europeans as a team, and they were tougher than ever on a course they know well.

"This team has been incredible from the start," Molinari said. "We were determined to do the job. Nothing was going to stop us. And you saw it on the course."

Trailing 10-6 going into the final day of singles, the Americans needed to put red points on the board early to build momentum. It never happened. Justin Thomas won the leadoff match over Rory McIlroy, but not until the 18th hole.

Webb Simpson and Tony Finau, the lone bright spot among the wild-card picks for U.S. captain Jim Furyk, won easily. Behind them, Woods was hanging tough against Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson started to pull ahead of Ian Poulter.

"There's always a moment where it looks like a spark of light," Furyk said. "When it was there for us, Europe played really well."

It wasn't there long.

Rahm won two straight holes with pars to seize control. Johnson went from 1-up to 2-down in a four-hole stretch that ended his chances.

Rahm dropped his putter after making a 5-foot birdie on the 17th hole as Woods stood to the side of the green, arms crossed. One week ago, he overcame four back surgeries to win for the 80th time on the Tour Championship, a signal that he was all the way back.

And then at the Ryder Cup, it was another result with which he is far too familiar. Woods has played on only one winning team in 1999.

"It's disappointing because I went 0-4, and that's four points to the European team," he said. "And I'm one of the contributing factors to why we lost the cup, and it's not a lot of fun. It's frustrating because I thought we were all playing pretty well, and I just didn't perform at the level that I had been playing, and just got behind early in the matches and never got back."

Thorbjorn Olesen, who had played only one match the previous two days, went 5-up at the turn over Jordan Spieth and won in 14 holes. Spieth is now 0-6 in singles matches in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

Sergio Garcia was in tears.

He played so poorly this year that he failed to qualify for the PGA Tour's postseason. Thomas Bjorn picked him anyway, saying he was like the captain of a football team. Garcia showed why by going 3-1. That final victory over Rickie Fowler made Garcia the biggest contributor in Ryder Cup history with 25½ points.

But this was more about team, and about redemption, even for a team that now has won nine of the past 12 times.

"We took a really tough loss at Hazeltine a couple of years ago and that stung," McIlroy said. "That was my first experience of what it feels like to be on the other side, so coming in here, obviously none of us want to feel like Sunday afternoon."</s>Tiger Woods stood on the 15th green at Le Golf National. He was surrounded by water and beset by images of rivals celebrating.

It was late morning and the giant screen at the top of the steep bank where the spectators sat in their thousands was showing Sergio Garcia punching the air wildly after adding another point to Europe's total.

The world's greatest golfer has only been on the winning side once in his previous seven appearances at a Ryder Cup and he must already have begun to sense that he wasn't about to make it twice any time soon. It has been his fate to become a symbol of American under-achievement in the competition and this weekend in France has conformed entirely to type.

An even bigger entourage of camera crews, reporters, team support staff and wives and girlfriends than usual was following Woods and his fourballs partner, Patrick Reed. That was less out of hope of seeing Woods win his first Ryder Cup point with a partner for eight years and more because they had bled across from other matches where America had already lost.

There was still an atmosphere of euphoria in the crowd who had seen Tyrrell Hatton and Paul Casey add to what was starting to look like an insurmountable European lead by closing out their match against Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler on the 16th a few minutes earlier.

Woods knew he needed to sink his six-foot putt to give him and Reed even a faint chance of salvaging something from their match against Europe's 'Moliwood' dream team of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, who had already beaten him in one match at this Ryder Cup and would go on to crush him in another.

Woods bent over his putt, stroked the ball across that island green towards the hole and watched it slide to the right. The roars of the European fans echoed round the natural amphitheatre. Woods looked down at the turf in disgust and stayed there for a few seconds, holding the pose. Then he scooped the ball up with his putter, flicked it up into the air, held out his hand to try to catch it — and dropped it.

Woods had arrived here on the southern outskirts of Paris accompanied by a narrative of rebirth after he won the Tour Championship in Atlanta last weekend but even though he did not play badly, his demeanour and his defeats in the first two days of this Ryder Cup made him appear forlorn and vulnerable again. Played 3, Lost 3 are hardly the statistics to go with a gala performance of The Return of the King.

The delight that had greeted his return to health and to winning and the mania that accompanied his victory in Atlanta were more evidence that despite all his struggles and his absences, he remains the biggest star and the biggest draw in the sport.

He had joked earlier in the week that some of the Europe team had said they wanted to play against him and that they ought to be careful what they wished for but the idea of taking him down appeared to drive Fleetwood and Molinari to even greater heights.

He lost three times with two different partners — Reed and Bryson DeChambeau — and each time, he was well beaten. In his defence, neither Reed nor DeChambeau played well. Team-mates often seem to shrink in his presence as if they are overawed by his legend.

It was also Woods's ill fortune that each time he played, he was up against Fleetwood and Molinari, who have redefined the notion of what a Ryder Cup hot streak means. The scale of Woods's defeats on Saturday, though — 4&3 in the morning fourballs and 5&4 in the afternoon foursomes — told the story of a man who has fallen to earth again.

It could be said that Woods struggling to perform at a Ryder Cup is another sign of the return of the old Tiger. He has always seemed ill-at-ease in a team situation and he has now lost seven matches in succession, a run that stretches back to Celtic Manor in 2010.

His singles record is good but overall he has lost 20 of the 36 matches he has contested, only one shy of the record held by Phil Mickelson, who is still working on adding to his total. Woods's lacklustre showing here has helped set the tone for what has turned into something close to a capitulation by a USA team who were widely expected to sweep Europe aside in France.

Perhaps his struggles here are not surprising after what it must have taken out of him, emotionally and physically, to win the Tour Championship after the adversity he has endured in recent years. But Woods has seemed drained of energy at Le Golf National. He has sucked the life out of his partners, too. Patrick Reed, an effervescent Captain America at Hazeltine two years ago, looked timid.

Woods appeared grim most of the time here. Losing can do that to you but his body language has been awkward since the beginning of his first match on Friday. American commentators noted on Saturday that, with temperatures in the 70s, Woods was still wearing his 'rain pants' during his and DeChambeau's afternoon drubbing by Fleetwood and Molinari.

Afterwards, he insisted that he was not suffering any physical problems but it did not look that way. He looked like a man who has had spinal fusion surgery. He looked, once more, like a man who was trying to overcome his body as well as his opponent.

'I feel pretty good, actually,' he insisted at the end of the day's play. 'Just ****** off that I lost my matches.' A small consolation is that he won't have to play either Molinari or Fleetwood in the singles on Sunday. Jon Rahm will be his opponent. A Woods win might at least reassure us that his rebirth has not been cancelled. Just interrupted.</s>PARIS, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods accepted responsibility for the American defeat at the Ryder Cup after slumping to a fourth straight loss at Le Golf National, beaten 2&1 by Jon Rahm in the singles on Sunday.

After ending a five-year victory drought by winning the Tour Championship in Atlanta last Sunday, Woods could not replicate that form and looked mentally drained all week in Paris.

Even in singles, the one Ryder Cup format where he had a good record, Woods could not rise to the occasion, losing for the first time since his debut against Costantino Rocca in 1997.

"It's disappointing because I went 0-4, and that's four points to the European team," Woods said after Europe had clinched victory in the biennial event.

"I'm one of the contributing factors to why we lost the Cup, and it's not a lot of fun. It doesn't feel very good.

"It's frustrating because we came here, I thought we were all playing pretty well, and I just didn't perform at the level that I had been playing, and just got behind early in the matches and never got back."

Woods now has a 13-21-3 (wins-losses-halves) career Ryder Cup record, a puzzling statistic for arguably the greatest player of all-time, his 14 major titles second only to the 18 won by Jack Nicklaus.

He has been on the winning team only once in eight appearances in the event.

Woods arrived in Paris on a high from the Tour Championship, but the expenditure of adrenaline from that victory may have contributed to his mediocre play.

Coming up against opponents in top form did not help either.

Woods three times had the misfortune to face the European powerhouse duo of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, who teamed up for four wins.

Woods has probably seen enough of British Open champion Molinari this year.

It was the Italian who withstood Woods's charge at Carnoustie in July, staying calm amid frenzied scenes playing with the American, who electrified the gallery as he stormed into the lead halfway through the final round.

Woods on Sunday also ran into a spirited opponent in Rahm, who birdied the first hole and never looked back.

"The incredible pride I feel, to beat Tiger Woods, I grew up watching that guy," the 23-year-old Rahm said.

"To play the golf I did, barely missed any shots, and to clinch it the way I did, a lot of emotions.

"I had to play my best golf and I did."

Spaniard Rahm dedicated his win to his late compatriot Seve Ballesteros, the five-times major champion whose passion for the Ryder Cup helped lift the event from virtual obscurity into one of the biggest events on the calendar.

"That was for Seve," Rahm said. "That was for him, not for me." (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Ed Osmond)</s>Tiger Woods didn't mince words when he addressed his three defeats to begin the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in France.

"Just pretty pissed off," Woods said, per GolfChannel.com's Will Gray. "The fact that I lost three matches and didn't feel like I played poorly. That's the frustrating thing about match play. We can play well and nothing can happen."

With singles play on the horizon Sunday, Europe leads the United States 10-6, with 14½ points the threshold for Europe to win back the Ryder Cup.

Woods may be one of the greatest golfers in history, but he has struggled in the Ryder Cup. Entering this year's tournament, he was 13-17-3 in seven appearances, with 16 of those defeats coming in the foursomes or fourball portions of the event. The trend has continued outside Paris.

The pair of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood are responsible for Woods' misery so far. They combined to beat Woods and Patrick Reed in fourball 3 and 1 on Friday and 4 and 3 on Saturday. Molinari and Fleetwood then finished Saturday's foursome competition with a 5-and-4 victory over Woods and Bryson DeChambeau.

While Woods didn't call out his playing partner by name, some of his frustration may have stemmed from DeChambeau's performance, as many thought DeChambeau offered little support:

The 2018 Ryder Cup is another example of how individual talent isn't enough to secure victory in the biennial event. Even a star such as Woods is often at the mercy of his teammate.

Only once has Woods been on the winning side (1999), and it looks unlikely he'll add a second trophy to his resume this year.</s>The Ryder Cup continues at Le Golf National in Paris as Tiger Woods and Team USA try to catch ...read more via USA Today – https://ift.tt/2OZ0iFN Get More Nigeria Sports News</s>Europe defeated the U.S. to win the Ryder Cup, golf’s premier international team competition.

Europe’s Francesco Molinari clinched the victory after Phil Mickelson hit his tee shot into the water on the 16th hole, giving the Italian a 4&2 win.

Europe entered Sunday’s singles matches with a 10-6 lead at Le Golf National outside of Paris.</s>A despondent Tiger Woods admitted that he “was a contributing factor” as to why the United States surrendered the Ryder Cup to Europe, after losing all four of his matches at Le Golf National.

The 14-time major champion suffered only his second singles defeat in the match-play showdown with a 2 and 1 loss to Jon Rahm as Europe charged to victory.

His miserable Ryder Cup record now stands at 13 wins, 21 losses and three halves.

“It’s disappointing because I went 0-4, and that’s four points to the European team,” admitted Woods.

“I’m one of the contributing factors to why we lost the Cup, and it’s not a lot of fun.

“It’s frustrating because we came here, I thought we were all playing pretty well, and I just didn’t perform at the level that I had been playing, and just got behind early in the matches and never got back.”

The former world number one headed to Paris in high spirits after capping a magnificent comeback season from injury with his first title since 2013 at the Tour Championship last week.

But it all went badly wrong, losing twice in the fourballs alongside Patrick Reed and once in the foursomes with Bryson DeChambeau – all defeats coming at the hands of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari.</s>Captain Thomas Bjorn could not bear to let the trophy out of his sight after his European side regained the Ryder Cup in brilliant fashion in Paris.

Up against an American team featuring nine major champions and with an average world ranking of 11.2, the best in the contest’s history, Bjorn’s side recovered from losing the first three matches to outplay their opponents and secured a resounding seven-point victory at Le Golf National.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at the best bits from the final day in France.

After three-putting the 16th hole to hand Tiger Woods a lifeline in their vital singles match, Jon Rahm smashed a 356-yard drive down the 17th and hit his approach to three feet to set up a winning birdie and complete a 2&1 victory.

Phil Mickelson’s tee shot into the water on the 16th summed up the poor play of the American team as a whole, prompting the five-time major winner to concede to Francesco Molinari, who as a result became the first European player to compile a 5-0 record in the Ryder Cup.

While Europe’s wild cards – Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter – contributed nine and a half points, Tony Finau (two) was the only American to win a single point as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau came up empty.

Quote of the day

Europe will attempt to retain the trophy at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin from September 25-27, 2020, with the likes of Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington likely to be in the frame to succeed Bjorn as captain.</s>Thomas Bjorn, the European captain, is set to have a permanent reminder of leading his side to a resounding 17½-10½ victory in the 42nd Ryder Cup at Le Golf National near Paris in the shape of a tattoo.

As the Europeans celebrated a sixth successive victory on home soil and ninth in the last 12 matches, it emerged the Dane had promised his players he’d indulge in some body art that showed the score if they could upset the odds against a star-studded American side.

“I don’t know when it’s going to get done, but we had some extra motivation this week to make sure we put our hands back on that trophy,” said Ian Poulter, pictured right, one of the last-day singles victors as Europe won the closing session 7½-4½ to regain the trophy.

Justin Rose confirmed what his compatriot was referring to was, in fact, a tattoo, before Rory McIlroy, another member of the triumphant team, jokingly suggested that it might be on Bjorn’s bald head. Asked about it, a smiling Bjorn said: “Let me put it this way, it’s going to go on a part that only Grace [his partner] will see. I might have to send them a picture then you’ll all see it as well, I guess. The worst decision I made all week!”

In fairness to him, it might actually have been the only bad one Bjorn made in his entire captaincy, getting his reward as Europe overcame one slight wobble on the last day to record their biggest win in the event since an 18½-9½ triumph at The K Club in 2006.

“It’s up there, I have to say,” admitted Bjorn in reply to being asked where he rated this team, bearing in mind that it had recorded a convincing victory over the strongest US side in terms of world rankings in the event’s history.

“We got it right this week. We worked as a team. We knew we were up against very strong opponents, but we went out on the golf course and believed in ourselves and what we stand for as a team.

“We never, ever looked towards their team about what they were about. We were about us as a team and what we do. This is the best team room I’ve ever been in. It was calm. It was determined. It was focused. It was fun. Everything that this Ryder Cup was, is what I think the Ryder Cup should be about for a European team.”

The win was a perfect way for Europe to reassert their recent ascendency in the biennial event after a heavy defeat at Hazeltine. “We went through a transition last time,” added Bjorn, one of Darren Clarke’s vice captains on that occasion. “That is difficult, especially when you go away. But this team was just a very, very solid team.

“All of these guys that are here, they are quality golfers. They are putting their stamp on the world scene and there are a couple on this team that are right on the way to the top of the game over the next few years and they will be massive parts of these European teams in the future.

“It’s a great group. It’s a group that believes in themselves and what they stand for, and they carry the torch on for what the European Ryder Cup teams is all about. They understand the history. They understand what we’re about, and that’s what will do them great going forward.”

Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey – contributed nine-and-a-half points. In contrast, the three US wildcards only picked up two points, both from Tony Finau. “I think I got it right,” said Bjorn of his selections. “I couldn’t have dreamt of what they brought on the golf course. And, in the team room, they bring experience and understanding.”

Jim Furyk, the US captain, had no complaints, heaping praise on the Europeans. “Hats off to what they accomplished this week. Thomas was a better captain and their team out-played us. There’s nothing else you can say. They deserved to win. They played well. When we put some heat on them early this afternoon, they responded.”
In golf, Team Europe retains the Ryder Cup, defeating Team USA 17½–10½ at Le Golf National near Paris.