Ryder Cup match-by-match recaps

A look at the matches so far for the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National in Chaska

4:36 p.m. Martin Kaymer def. Matt Kuchar 1-up. US wins 17-11

Martin Kaymer, a two-time major winner, had a lousy week in the team portion of competition but picked up a point in the last match to finish. Trailing from the fifth hole, Kaymer rolled birdies on holes 14-16. He took advantage of a string of pars by Matt Kuchar who was playing with the advantage of knowing his team had already wrapped up the trophy.

4:26 p.m. Dustin Johnson def. Chris Wood 1-up. US leads 17-10

The long-hitting American out-dueled the European rookie. Dustin Johnson was the favorite in this match, but was behind or tied until he made a birdie on the eighth hole. He also saved par with a 60-foot putt on No. 6. The PGA Player of the Year bumped his lead to 2-up with another smooth roll on 10 and held on from there, shaking off a bogey on 14.

4:16 p.m. Zach Johnson def. Matthew Fitzpatrick 4 and 3. US leads 16-10

Iowa native Zach Johnson pleased the Midwestern crowd - some yelling "Go Hawks!" - with a par on the first hole after young Matthew Fitzpatrick made bogey. And Johnson never trailed. Fitzpatrick got it back to all square with a birdie on No. 8 but Johnson bounced right back at the turn and stepped on the gas from there in the anchor match.

The last man into the tournament as Davis Love III's fourth captain's pick clinched it for the United States. Ryan Moore was 2-down after 15 holes then made an eagle on 16, a birdie on 17 and parred 17 after Lee Westwood made bogey. It capped a frustrating tournament for Westwood, Europe's most experienced player. He finished the weekend 0-3-0, a whimper of an end for the 11-time Ryder Cupper.

4:03 p.m. Brandt Snedeker def. Andy Sullivan 3 and 2. US leads 14-10

One of six European rookies, Andy Sullivan hadn't appeared in a match since Friday morning's foursomes. He showed little rust with a birdie on the opening hole to take a 1-up lead. That score remained until Brandt Snedeker's sand shot on No. 5 nestled close to the cup and leveled the match. Snedeker took the lead for good two holes later with a birdie putt that had just enough speed to drop.

3:55 p.m. Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia halve. US leads 13-10

Two longtime Ryder Cup participants put on a show at a Hazeltine course that was set up for just that. They combined to make 19 birdies. In stroke play, it would have amounted to a pair of 63s as they went head-to-head with clutch putt after clutch putt. Mickelson made the lone bogey of the match on 11, but rolled five birdies after that blip.

Danny Willett was all the talk early for the wrong reasons. He could have been Sunday on his own with a win in the 10th match off the tee. Instead, after he was 1-up thru five holes he allowed Brooks Koepka to win six of the next nine holes and a dominating point for the Americans. A short birdie putt on No. 6 by Keopka took away Willett's lead for good.

3:36 p.m. Rickie Fowler def. Justin Rose 1-up. US leads 11.5-9.5

In what many outside of Davis Love III considered an upset, Rickie Fowler rebounded from 1-down at the turn to defeat the Olympic gold medalist. Justin Rose's bogey on No. 10 brought the match back to all square and Fowler went up for good with a birdie on No. 16. But it was his 30-foot par putt on 13 that was most impressive.

3:25 p.m. Rafa Cabrera Bello def Jimmy Walker 3 and 2. US leads 10.5-9.5

A match that featured ups and downs by the American ended with a down for Jimmy Walker. He made a mess of the 16th hole and posted a second straight bogey to give the match to Rafa Cabrera Bello. The Spaniard never trailed, going 1-up with a birdie on No. 3. It was the first of six circles on his card. Bello's best moment of the day came on a near-ace at 13.

Thomas Pieters capped off a tremendous weekend at Hazeltine with seven birdies on Sunday to gain a point over J.B. Holmes. Pieters finished the tournament 4-1-0 - the greatest European Ryder Cup rookie record since the current format began in 1979. The University of Illinois product shook off a first-hole bogey and another at No. 5 to play the last 10 holes 5 under.

2:59 p.m. Patrick Reed def. Rory McIlroy 1-up. US leads 10.5-7.5

The most anticipated match of Sunday singles lived up to the billing - especially on the front nine. Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed played holes 5-8 in 9-under. The two made about 90 feet worth of birdie putts on No. 8 alone, and traded crowd-pleasing gestures: shushes and finger-wags. They also fist-bumped as a sign of respect. Reed capped off the match with a birdie on 18 for a huge full point.

2:51 p.m. Henrik Stenson def. Jordan Spieth 3 and 2. US leads 9.5-7.5

The match ended on an oddity when Jordan Spieth's ball on 16 found water but was playable. The top-ranked American player rolled up his pants and stepped into the water to take his shot but the force made his ball sink. It was determined to be a penalty, and thus Henrik Stenson got the point. And he deserved it. The Swede made seven birdies and an eagle.

6:14 Patrick Reed/Jordan Spieth def. Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson 2 and 1. US leads 9.5-6.5

Jordan Spieth didn't make many birdies Saturday afternoon. When your playing partner throws darts into the flag sticks, that's not necessary. Patrick Reed carried the load in eye-popping fashion Saturday afternoon. The man who used a gesture and shushed the Gleneagles crowd two years ago strained vocal cords of the 50,000 at Hazeltine. Not to mention his own. Reed made six birdies and a hole-out eagle in 17 holes, again and again stuffing approach shots to inside 10 feet and screaming in jubilation when the putts dropped. Henrik Stenson did his best to keep it close for the Europeans, making four birdies and an eagle on No. 16.

5:58 J.B. Holmes/Ryan Moore def. Danny Willett/Lee Westwood 1-up. US leads 8.5-6.5

The match started with two clutch shots - a chip-in by Danny Willett and a 15-foot putt by J.B. Holmes. It ended with Europe's most experienced player crushed by a sudden case of the anti-clutch blues. Lee Westwood asked to ride the bench Friday afternoon to work on his game and was spotted on the putting green for hours while his teammates mounted a comeback. Saturday afternoon it looked like he gained control with three birdies on Nos. 5-7. But on the final four holes of the match Westwood either lipped out or missed from inside 5 feet, handing the Americans a point.

5:54 p.m. Phil Mickelson/Matt Kuchar def. Martin Kaymer/Sergio Garcia 2 and 1. US leads 7.5-6.5

5:08 p.m. Rory McIlroy/Thomas Pieters def. Brooks Koepka/Dustin Johnson 3 and 1. Match tied 6.5-6.5

Americans, pay attention. The Thomas Pieters coming out party continues. And how. The long-hitting 24-year-old Ryder Cup rookie made the first birdie of the afternoon session to put his side 1-up. He then drove the green on No. 5 and made the 15-foot eagle putt to put the Europeans 2-up in the match. Pieters would go on to make seven more birdies in the match including a no-doubter on No. 13 after Rory McIlroy flubbed his flop shot - a rare error by Europe's best player this week. Pieters and McIlroy have been paired together the last three sessions of the tournament. They have never trailed.

SATURDAY MORNING FOURSOMES

12:26 p.m. Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed halve Sergio Garcia/Rafa Cabrera Bello. US leads 6.5-5.5

Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello found the potion to patch the sinking Spanish Armada. Dead and nearly buried against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed 4-down walking off the 12th green, the Spaniards won holes 13, 15, 16, 17 then matched pars on 18 to steal a half point. How lopsided was this one early? Reed and Spieth played 5-under golf through seven holes and watched as Garcia's ball land in a marshal's pocket off the fifth green and miss a putt from gimmie range on No. 11. All the fun went away in a flash with bogeys on 13-15.

In the week's closest match to this point the sides matched scores until Justin Rose rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 7. Despite Walker's gargantuan drive on the 10th the Europeans struck again with a birdie to go 2-up and ran it to 3-up on the 13th when Zach Johnson missed a 3-foot par putt. Jimmy Walker made a birdie from about five times that distance on 14 for the first U.S. win of the match and struck again on 16 when Rose went for it on the par 5 but rinsed his approach into the pond. But pars the rest of the way allowed the Euros to escape.

11:29 a.m. Brandt Snedeker/Brooks Koepka def. Henrik Stenson/Matt Fitzpatrick 3 and 2. US leads 6-4.

They were head after the opening hole and never trailed, but to say this one was easy for the Americans would be false. As Brandt Snedeker said after the match, "Fairways were overrated in this one." Yet the duo scrambled to perfection. On the 12th, Kopeka's approach shot from the rough actually shanked off the hozzle of his club. The Ryder Cup rookie rebounded a hole later by blasting a 4-iron off the tee 253 yards setting up a birdie putt for Snedeker to go 1-up that led to two of the hardest hand-slaps you'll see. They sealed the match on 16, making a fourth straight birdie.

11:14 a.m. Rory McIlroy/Thomas Pieters def. Phil Mickelson/Rickie Fowler 4 and 2. US leads 5-4.

The Americans made the day's first match interesting at the turn but there was no stopping Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters. The pair pounced when they needed to, capitalizing on bogeys by their opponents on Nos. 4 and 5 to take a 3-up lead after five holes. It remained so until the ninth when, after an impromptu "Star Spangled Banner" from the crowd, McIlroy missed a 3-footer then put his ball into the trees off the 10th tee. Mickelson and Fowler, though, could get no closer than 1-down after the fourth hole and a hot putter in Pieters' hands won the final two holes and the match.

5:50 p.m. Rory McIlroy/Thomas Pieters def. Dustin Johnson/Matt Kuchar 3 and 2. US leads 5-3.

McIlroy took a bow - twice - when the final 20-foot eagle putt dropped to win the match. But it's Pieters who should get the curtain call. The Ryder Cup rookie showed few nerves in the match. He made a birdie putt on No. 4 to put Europe 1 up, on No. 7 to go 4 up and then again on No. 13 after McIlroy went in the water. The latter caused McIlroy to show his steely game face, biting his lower lip and pumping his fist in support. McIlroy added birdies on Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 10 to do is part before the clutch eagle.

5:35 p.m. Sergio Garcia/Rafa Cabrera Bello def. J.B. Holmes and Ryan Moore 3 and 2. US leads 5-2

The United States didn't make its first birdie until Moore matched Garcia's putt on No. 10. But by then the Americans were 4 down, meaning the putt only temporarily stopped the bleeding. Prior to that the Spanish duo made four birdies, including an opening hole jolt by Cabrera Bello on his first career Ryder Cup hole. As he did in the morning session, Garcia played to the crowd with playful gestures and at one point flexing his right bicep. Moore extended the match twice with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 facing elimination. But Holmes couldn't convert from the fringe on 16 to secure the match for Europe.

5:03 p.m. Brandt Snedeker/Brooks Koepka def. Martin Kaymer/Danny Willett 5 and 4. US leads 5-1.

4:38 p.m. Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson def. Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed 5 and 4. US leads 4-1.

In a rematch from the morning session, the Americans made five birdies in the first six holes - and sat all-square with their European counterparts heading to the seventh tee. That's when the best duo for the U.S. at Hazeltine lost its steam. Spieth and Reed both carded pars at No. 7 before Stenson made his third birdie of the day. His fourth came a hole later, but only after the Swede nearly aced No. 8. Poor swings and burned edges on putts by Spieth and Reed followed and the Euros closed them out in a rout to get on the scoreboard.

FRIDAY MORNING FOURSOMES: U.S. sweeps 4-0

11:48 a.m. Phil Mickelson/Rickie Fowler def. Rory McIlroy/Andy Sullivan 1 up. US leads 4-0.
Just when it looked like things were about to go horribly wrong for the Americans. On the sixth hole, Mickelson's tee shot went severely out of bounds and Fowler, hitting the team's third, ran his drive along a fence line. That forced Lefty to turn his club around and hit righthanded into the fairway. The U.S. sheepishly conceded but things turned three holes later when Fowler chipped in off the fringe. Though McIlroy made a pair of fist-pumping birdies on 13 and 14, Sullivan's tee shot in the water on 17 was the dagger.

11:44 a.m. Jimmy Walker/Zach Johnson def. Sergio Garcia/Martin Kaymer 4 and 2. US leads 3-0.
This match was the first to show some spunk, when Garcia rolled in a 25-foot putt on No. 4 and egged on the pro-USA crowd by mimicking a putt dropping into the hole and mouthing, "Did it go in?" That kept the match 1 up for the Euros, where it stayed until the 11th hole when the Americans sent to to all-square. Back-to-back birdie putts by Walker on the next two holes set the stage and a fifth straight hole win meant the match for the U.S.

The best player in the world this season paired with one of the steadiest players since 2007. The Europeans were up against it vs. Johnson and Kuchar no matter who they put out. Westwood and Ryder Cup rookie Pieters got the unlucky draw and it was over from the beginning. Some poor shots and a missed putt early by the Euros didn't help but Johnson and Kuchar were simply on their game and it showed. Johnson curled in a birdie putt on No. 8 to put the Americans 5 up and the rout was over one hole later.

11:21 a.m. Patrick Reed/Jordan Spieth def Henrik Stenson/Justin Rose 3 and 2; US leads 1-0

This U.S. pairing moved to 3-0-1 all time together with the victory. Spieth and Reed were in control from the start, winning the second hole and bumping the lead to 3 up after the seventh hole. Stenson and Rose struggled all morning on the greens, which turned into gamesmanship on the ninth hole when the Americans made the Euros putt out an 18-inch try. Spieth and Reed weren't dominant but didn't make any critical errors, either. Reed's lengthy putt on No. 16 sealed the first point of the tournament