U.S.A. takes commanding lead over Europe heading into Sunday at Ryder Cup!

Photo credit Darren Carroll/PGA of America

Is the United States lead of 11-5 heading into the Sunday singles too much for Europe to overcome? The United States needs just 3.5 points from the 12 singles matches to win the Cup!

Traditionally, the U.S. plays well in Singles, but on a course as treacherous at Whistling Straits has shown, especially when the wind blows, there is no sure thing!

Following is the Sunday Singles schedule (all times EST):

Match 1 11:04 a.m.

Xander SCHAUFFELE v. 11:04 a.m. Rory MCILROY

Match 2 11:15 a.m.

Patrick CANTLAY v. 11:15 a.m. Shane LOWRY

Match 3 11:26 a.m.

Scottie SCHEFFLER v. 11:26 a.m. Jon RAHM

Match 4 11:37 a.m.

Bryson DECHAMBEAU v. 11:37 a.m. Sergio GARCIA

Match 5 11:48 a.m.

Collin MORIKAWA v. 11:48 a.m. Viktor HOVLAND

Match 6 11:59 a.m.

Dustin JOHNSON v. 11:59 a.m. Paul CASEY

Match 7 12:10 p.m.

Brooks KOEPKA v. 12:10 p.m. Bernd WIESBERGER

Match 8 12:21 p.m.

Tony FINAU v. 12:21 p.m. Ian POULTER

Match 9 12:32 p.m.

Justin THOMAS v. 12:32 p.m. Tyrrell HATTON

Match 10 12:43 p.m.

Harris ENGLISH v. 12:43 p.m. Lee WESTWOOD

Match 11 12:54 p.m.

Jordan SPIETH v. 12:54 p.m. Tommy FLEETWOOD

Match 12 1:05 p.m.

Daniel BERGER v. 1:05 p.m. Matt FITZPATRICK

Following is pool reporter Jeff Babineau’s Saturday notebook!

MIGHTY CASEY: Europe’s Paul Casey made the swing of the morning at the par-4 14th hole in a Foursomes match alongside his English countryman, Tyrrell Hatton. Casey and Hatton were 2 down with five holes to play, and Casey didn’t seem to be in a great spot with Hatton’s tee shot laying just outside a rugged right-side bunker.

Casey had roughly 108 yards to the flagstick and faced a blind shot. He had no idea what all the buzz was about as his ball pitched on the green, started rolling, and vanished into the hole for an eagle-2. Europe was back in the match.

“Totally blind for me down behind the bunker in the first cut in the semi (rough), and it was a good number, but I hit a lovely looking shot, felt good,” Casey said. “As the crowd reacted, I actually — and cheered – I actually thought it rolled off the back edge. That was kind of the way our luck was going a little bit.

“But no, in it went. Honestly, it was a great reception, and the crowd were fantastic. I gave the ball away to a kid in the crowd. There’s always sort of Ryder Cup moments and sometimes they are not the hole-in-one or winning putts, and I’ve obviously had a hole-in-one, and that’s obviously another cool Ryder Cup moment I’ll remember forever.”

Perhaps 14 is Casey’s lucky number. Casey’s ace came in 2006 at the K Club in Ireland, and not only won him the hole, but closed out a match victory. He and David Howell defeated Stewart Cink/Zach Johnson, 5 and 4. Europe won that Ryder Cup, 18.5-9.5.

ROOKIES STEP UP: When Scottie Scheffler secured a point with Bryson DeChambeau late Saturday against Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland to gain a 2-2 tie in the Four-Ball session, it gave all six rookies on the U.S. team a match victory.

The six rookies mark the most on one U.S. team since 2008, when the U.S. won in Louisville. Four of those rookies head into Sunday with unbeaten records: Collin Morikawa (3-0-0), Xander Schauffele (3-0-0), Patrick Cantlay (2-0-1), and Scheffler (1-0-1).

“The notion that rookies can’t come out here because they don’t have the experience can kind of be thrown out the window,” Daniel Berger said. “All of these guys are competing at the biggest events, the major championships, and winning big golf tournaments. That’s what it comes down to is being able to perform at the height level.”

Berger and Brooks Koepka went 1-1 competing in two Foursomes matches alongside each another. Both attended Florida State, and they were teammates for one season. Asked if they went head-to-head much, Berger said there was a much bigger gap in talent at the time.

“He was definitely a better golfer,” Berger said. “I was there my freshman year. He was a senior. He was just a better golfer than I was. I feel like I kind of developed late. My second year in college is where I really started to pick things up and started to become better, and kind of the rest has gone the way I thought it would.”

RECORD SETTER: Sergio Garcia, playing his 10th Ryder Cup, entered the week as the all-time points leader in the event, with 25.5 points, and he has added to it with three victories this week. He also passed Nick Faldo for overall matches won (25). Lee Westwood will become the all-time leader in matches played (47) once he plays the Sunday Singles session.

Garcia had no idea that he set a new mark for total matches won, and was told as he exited the last green at his morning match. With Europe trailing 9-3 heading into the afternoon session on Saturday, he didn’t care to celebrate his personal achievement very much.

“It’s great but it’s not,” Garcia said. “We need more wins, and unfortunately we are not getting them at the moment. I didn’t even know. … I didn’t know the record and I didn’t care. Obviously, Jon (Rahm) and I, we did what we had to and what we could, and unfortunately it just looks like the American guys are just playing a little bit better than us, and it’s a shame. But you know, we are not giving up. We’re going to fight until the end as hard as we can.”

Garcia was a captain’s pick on this year’s team, and once again has proven his worth as a Ryder Cup giant for Europe. What is it about this competition that gets his blood churning?

“I don’t know, I just love it,” he said. “I love being next to my partner. I love hugging him. I love pushing him. I love cheering for him, and I love him cheering for me, and things like that. “Really, it drives me on those moments when I need to do something extraordinary to get
going and I’ve been fortunate to do it for many years. I’m so proud to be a part of Team Europe.”

SHORT SHOTS: Dustin Johnson has a chance to become just the fifth player (the fourth American) to go through the Ryder Cup a perfect 5-0. Gardner Dickinson and Arnold Palmer did it in 1967, and Larry Nelson, as a rookie, went 5-0 in 1979. Francesco Molinari went 5-0 for Europe three years ago in Paris. … Saturday’s final Four-Ball match between Dustin Johnson/Collin Morikawa (U.S.) and Ian Poulter/Rory McIlroy (Europe) was the 1,000th match played in the Ryder Cup, which began in 1927 at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club. … Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson, the two top-ranked players in the world (Rahm is 1, Johnson 2) will be the only players to compete in all five sessions. … U.S. Captain Steve Stricker, his five assistant captains and his 12 players designated $2.85 million to the 43rd Ryder Cup Outreach Program, which will be disbursed to designated charities and youth-golf development programs throughout the country. Since 1999, the Outreach
Program has contributed $28.6 million to more than 200 charitable organizations. …  There are three U.S. Amateur champions competing in this week’s Ryder Cup: Matt Fitzpatrick (2013), Bryson DeChambeau (2015), and Viktor Hovland (2018). … Germany’s Martin Kaymer, here this week as a vice-captain to Padraig Harrington, not only clinched the winning point for Europe at 2012 at Medinah, but he also won the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.