Fleetwood Out To Make Ammends For Europe’s Whistling Straits ‘Hammering’.

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The last time the European Ryder Cup team competed on the USA they coped a golfing hammering along the shoreline at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.The United States, fielding its youngest team in its history, regained the Ryder Cup in 2021 with a record 19–9 victory.

It was the largest margin of victory in a Ryder Cup since 1967. Continental Europe joined the Ryder Cup in 1979; this is Europe’s heaviest defeat in Ryder Cup history.  Combined with its 2016 win at Hazeltine, the United States won back-to-back Ryder Cups on home soil for the first time since 1979 and 1983.

Fleetwood was second top European automatic qualifer for Padriag Harrington’s side but played in just three matches –  tieing his Friday afternoon match, losing his Saturday afternoon encounter and then tieing Jordan Spieth in his penulatimate Sunday Singles.

One point is all Fleetwood earned.

Fast forward to Septmeber 2025 and Fleetwood has returned to the US wearing European Team colours, speaking of the events of four years ago and being quizzed if the recently crowned PGA Tour Championship winner is carrying any scars from that Whistling Straits meltdown.

“Yeah, I think absolutely,” he said to the assembled media.”When you’ve lost a Ryder Cup — like for us, 100 percent at Whistling Straits we took a — there’s no other way of putting it: We took a hammering.

“I think all of us that were on that team didn’t feel like we did ourselves justice in the way that we played and we never really gave ourselves a chance. We were behind from the get-go there, and we lost that one.”Fleetwood recalls the Europeans’ self-reflection and analysis began journey home from Wisconsin following their 19-9 hammering.”

“First of all, we all wanted to start working to have a chance to have a go at it again and sort of avenge ourselves in that way,” he said.”But then looking at the process of what can we do more, what can Team Europe do or add that can give us a better chance in Rome.

“I think when you’ve lost one, yeah, of course you have a chip on your shoulder. You have that feeling of hurt. I think one of the most motivating things you can have is watching the other team celebrate when you’ve lost, and no matter how great of a time — like some of my best memories in the game were from Whistling Straits.

“We got hammered on the golf course, but as a team and how close you become and the moments that we drew on that week, it’s still some of my best memories in the game even though we did not win”.

Fleetwood begins his fourth Ryder Cup appearance on Friday, entering with the momentum of his long-awaited PGA Tour breakthrough at last month’s Tour Championship.

Yes, it had taken 163 PGA Tour events but there’s no denying the Englshman is in the best of winning form.

And with that maiden Tour win so fresh in his mind, Fleetwood feels it’s time to finally bury the memories of Whistling Straits.

Fleetwood remembers clearly watching the U.S. team enjoy its triumph at Whistling Straits. He knows Europe’s win in Rome left a similar unpleasant taste in his opponents’ mouths.

“That hurt and watching those guys celebrate when you know you didn’t feel like you didn’t do yourselves justice I think is one of the most motivating things you can have,” he said.

“It came to Rome, and I guess it was a very new look of a team, and a home crowd, home advantage, and we took that.”So actually winning that one was really, really satisfying.

And of course. the American team will have similar sort of feelings. They’ll have been hurt from last time, and they’ll come here and want to win and be at home and win in front of their home crowd. And that’s just as it should be.

“See Fleetwood’s full pre-Bethpage Park Black press conference:  https://youtu.be/g0Pcg1W113w?si=5Aya_RGjQqaVhcUB 

 



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