There was a moment – a long, bewildering, incredible moment – when it seemed possible.

Team USA entered the final day of the Ryder Cup facing a massive seven-point deficit, the largest in this tournament since it took on its current format in 1979. The team trailed 11.5-4.5 after two full days of competition and the Europeans only needed two-and-a-half points to retain the trophy.

There was no hope. There was no chance. And then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye on Sunday afternoon, everything changed.

The aftermath was a mixture of jubilation and relief for Europe, and heartbreak yet pride for the United States. European captain Luke Donald admitted: “For a while, I thought history was about to be written against us. The fight they showed was incredible. We were hanging on.” On the American side, captain Zach Johnson said his team “left it all out there” and praised their ability to dig deep when everyone had counted them out.

Fans and analysts were left marveling at what they had witnessed. Golf Digest called it “the most riveting Ryder Cup Sunday in decades.” Social media lit up with fans declaring it the greatest final day they had ever seen, despite the U.S. falling just short. Some even argued that the near-miracle comeback might do more for the Americans’ reputation than a routine victory would have.

“They were fighting the whole way, even when things were not looking good, and I didn’t expect anything different today from these guys,” said Keegan Bradley, the captain of Team USA, “who are determined, proud, and playing for each other, playing for their team, playing for their country, and they showed the world today that, really, anything is possible.”

New York native Cameron Young started the US rally with a dramatic win in the day’s first match. Like Justin Thomas, he hit a putt to win on the 18th hole.
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Hometown hero Cameron Young won his match against Justin Rose, who had played sterling golf the day before and looked untouchable. Bryson DeChambeau stormed back from a five-hole deficit to steal a half-point from Matt Fitzpatrick. Justin Thomas, who looked hopelessly lost on Friday morning, sank a putt on the 18th hole to defeat the seemingly invincible Tommy Fleetwood.

When world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler won his match against Rory McIlroy, all the pieces seemed like they were falling into place.

Suddenly, the entirety of Bethpage Black felt like it was caught up in an enormous tidal wave that was lifting the American fans and their players toward the most incredible comeback this event had ever seen. And they almost pulled it off.

As Bradley said, “That was a coin flip there for a second.”

Changing an ugly narrative

The story of this tournament had been the clashes between fans and Team Europe’s stars, with McIlroy at the center of it. Before the day started, it seemed the only thing that would be remembered from Bethpage would be the ugly scenes that played out on Saturday afternoon when the atmosphere nearly boiled over from an intense golf tournament to an embarrassing, alcohol-fueled meltdown by the American fans.

Rory McIlroy yells toward the crowd as he walks off the 17th hole on Saturday.
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Insults were hurled at McIlroy with such ferocity that his playing partner Shane Lowry had to be held back from going over the ropes to get at the fans. There were insults about Jon Rahm’s weight being shouted from the gallery. Video on social media showed a drink coming out of the gallery and hitting McIlroy’s wife in her hat, sparking more anger from the Northern Irishman.

It was the kind of unacceptable behavior that some had feared would take place at Bethpage, known as one of the rowdiest venues in a typically polite sport governed by its unwritten rules of etiquette. Much of that calmed down on Sunday as the American fans finally had something to cheer about, but there was still more than enough abuse aimed at McIlroy from the spectators throughout the day.

Justin Thomas tries to quiet fans so Rory McIlroy could hit on Saturday.
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“Anybody that was out there could pretty blatantly tell you that there was some things said, and Cam [Cameron Young] and I said it to Shane and Rory yesterday that we felt for them,” Thomas said.

“It was unfortunate. Cam and I just wished that we gave them something to cheer for instead of people to cheer against. I think that was kind of the main consensus of the last two days, that we weren’t giving them enough to cheer for, and they were just trying to help us win.”

“I guess that’s the New York fans for you.”

A Sunday afternoon to remember

Those disappointing images and sounds will certainly linger. But what most American fans will remember from this Ryder Cup is the comeback that almost was.

When play crossed Round Swamp Road, the roadway that cuts between Bethpage Black and separates the 14th and 15th holes, this tournament flew into the stratosphere. Roars ping-ponged around the course as the Americans charged back into the competition, winning hole after hole and giving themselves a chance.

“[Bradley] had a message for us to worry about our own point,” said Xander Schauffele, who defeated Rahm. “Obviously, it was hard not to peek when there was some USA chants ripping through the property. But for the most part, [Bradley’s] message to us was to focus on our point and nothing else, whether you look at the board or not. However you operate is how you’re supposed to do it. So that was kind of the mentality that I think all of us carried today.”

Bryson DeChambeau reacts after hitting a crucial putt on the 12th hole Sunday.
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When Fitzpatrick missed his putt on 17 to put himself and DeChambeau on equal terms heading into the last hole, the place exploded. It felt like a wave was picking up and carrying the American players and their fans into history, a comeback that would live on in golf lore forever.

“Man, I gave it everything I had today for the team. Like my dad always said, you’ve just got to keep swimming. You can’t give up. That’s what I did today,” DeChambeau said afterward.

“I’m very proud of the way I finished after being 5-down. Super emotional for me right now. I put my heart and soul into this Ryder Cup, and albeit, it wasn’t the points that I wanted to get for the team, I’m very proud of the way we fought today.”

Shane Lowry puts an end to the charge

Even when Russell Henley failed to put away Lowry on the 17th with a birdie putt, it still felt like destiny was on Team USA’s side. Henley put his drive into a fairway bunker on 18 while the Irishman was safely in the short stuff in the middle of the hole. But Henley recovered remarkably, sticking his approach shot 10 feet from the hole and seeming to seal a victory in the match.

But Lowry – the gregarious and intense giant of Team Europe who seems to love this competition more than any other – outdid his opponent by stuffing his iron shot within five feet. The pressure piled onto Henley. He had to make his birdie putt to secure another point for Team USA and hold off the Europeans for another few minutes. He missed and there was no doubt that Lowry would sink his putt.

The Irishman nailed it and went berserk, running around the green and jumping into the arms of his caddie and anyone else who’d have him.

Shane Lowry jumps for joy after hitting the putt that ensured Europe would retain the Ryder Cup.
Matt Slocum/AP

“I’ve been so lucky to experience amazing things in this game but that was the hardest couple of hours of my whole life. Honestly, like, I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe that ball went in. I stood over it going, ‘This is it,’” Lowry said through tears after the match.

“The Ryder Cup means everything to me, honestly. I’ve won The Open in Ireland. It’s amazing. It’s a dream come true.

“But the Ryder Cup for me is everything, like, and to do that there today on the 18th green in front of everyone, it was so hard out there. I mean, fair play to the U.S. lads. We knew they were going to come out fighting.”

‘I’ll remember this the rest of my life’

At the 18th green, the Europeans cheered, and the Americans hung their heads. It was so close they could taste it. History was within their grasp, and it slipped away.

“We’d be stupid to sit here and be like, we’re going to – all of us thinking this is going to happen. We know it could, but we just wanted to come out and battle, and that’s what we did,” Thomas said after his match when the result was still in doubt.

Members of Team USA stand together on the last hole shortly after losing on Sunday.
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There will be questions asked in retrospect. Should Bradley have laid out Bethpage Black differently instead of removing the teeth from one of the most difficult courses in the world? Should Bradley really have played the combination of Harris English and Collin Morikawa twice in morning foursomes sessions? Should the rules around what happens when a player has to pull out due to injury change after Viktor Hovland’s injury meant a crucial half-point for the Europeans?

Those things clearly don’t matter much to the American players in the immediate aftermath of the first home defeat in this competition since 2012. They aimed to make history with their comeback but instead did so with their defeat. And ultimately, they ran into a European buzzsaw.

“When you perform at that high of a level, that’s as high of a level as a Ryder Cup Team has ever played on for those two days, I think. When that happens, they just beat you sometimes,” Bradley said.

For Bradley and the rest of his team, it’s a brutal feeling but a memory – especially of that hour or so when it seemed possible, maybe even likely, that the US could pull off the comeback of all comebacks – that will linger forever.

“I’ve got a real weird relationship with this tournament. A lot of heartbreak. But I still love it, and I love the guys. I love being out here again. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do this again,” Bradley said. “I’ll remember this the rest of my life.”

Team USA came within a whisper of pulling off what would have been the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history, a final-day surge so relentless that even the European team admitted they had never seen anything like it. After trailing by a seemingly insurmountable margin heading into Sunday’s singles matches, the Americans staged a furious rally that had the golf world holding its breath and fans glued to their screens. In the end, Europe clung to the Cup, but what unfolded was nothing short of extraordinary—a “miracle” that almost became reality.

The stage had been set for a European coronation. Holding a commanding lead after two days of dominant play, Europe needed just a handful of points to seal the deal. Pundits dismissed the idea of a comeback as a fantasy, pointing out that no team had ever overturned such a deficit. But the Americans, battered and ridiculed throughout the week, arrived on Sunday with nothing left to lose—and a chip on their shoulders the size of the Atlantic.

From the first tee shot, the tone shifted. Scottie Scheffler, who had endured one of the toughest Ryder Cup outings of his career, came out firing. His precision iron play and fiery demeanor set the tone for his teammates, who fed off the energy. Within an hour, the leaderboard that had been bathed in European blue suddenly lit up with flashes of red. Whispers began to ripple across the course: could this actually happen?

Jordan Spieth delivered one of his trademark scrambling performances, holing impossible putts to keep his match alive and energize the American crowd. Meanwhile, Brooks Koepka turned into a bulldozer, overwhelming his opponent with sheer power and steely nerves. The combination of clutch putting and aggressive play saw match after match swing in the Americans’ favor. At one point, they were winning seven of the 12 singles matches outright—a turnaround nobody had predicted.

By midday, the miracle was on. Commentators compared the energy to the fabled “Battle of Brookline” in 1999, when the U.S. clawed back from the dead on the final day. European fans who had been relaxed and celebratory suddenly grew restless, their chants quieting as the Americans chipped away at the lead. Each roar from a U.S. birdie rolled like thunder across the course, and even the European players admitted later that the atmosphere felt like momentum was slipping through their fingers.

The climax came as the final matches reached the back nine. Patrick Cantlay, criticized earlier in the week for supposed disunity in the American camp, produced an ice-cold performance under the gun. His birdie putts on 15 and 16 not only secured his match but also drew the Americans to within striking distance of the unthinkable. The scoreline suddenly suggested that Team USA could snatch the Cup outright with a clean sweep of the remaining matches. The tension was unbearable.

But Europe is Europe, and in Ryder Cup golf, their resilience is legendary. Rory McIlroy, stung by the criticism of past Ryder Cup performances, rose to the occasion with one of his finest displays. His clutch birdie on 17 sealed his point and steadied the European ship just when it seemed ready to capsize. Moments later, Jon Rahm delivered the knockout blow, draining a long-range birdie that effectively ended the American miracle. The Cup was Europe’s once again, but not without surviving the scare of a lifetime.

At its core, the Ryder Cup is about drama, pressure, and history—and this edition delivered in spades. Team USA didn’t take the Cup home, but they reminded the golf world of what makes this competition unlike any other. The near-miracle inched close enough to taste, and while it slipped away, it will be remembered as one of the sport’s most astonishing almosts.

For Europe, it was survival. For the U.S., it was heartbreak with a hint of redemption. For the fans, it was golf at its absolute best. A miracle didn’t quite happen—but for a few unforgettable hours, it felt like one was unfolding before our eyes.