Pros advice

Who shined and who should have stayed at home? Our friends at National Club Golfer gave their verdict:

Paul Casey (W1, L1, D1). Ten years we’ve been waiting for this. Many questioned whether he was even worth a place on the team, as it played out he chaperoned a rookie in Tyrrell Hatton with the best scoring in the fourballs and was then dispatched second in the singles. From where three-time major winner Brooks Koepka didn’t drop a shot and still couldn’t get a win over the Englishman. 7/10

Tommy Fleetwood (W4, L1, D0). Everything was so much in his favour – the course, his form, the Open champion as his partner, it was even the week of his son’s birthday – that you felt something had to give. Nothing did. Even by Fleetwood’s now exceptional standards this was spectacular. It would be harsh to say he ran out of steam on Sunday, more that fellow rookie Tony Finau was too good on the day. 9/10

Sergio Garcia (W3, L1, D0). The Spaniard got the most hammer when the picks were announced, now he’s Europe’s most successful ever Ryder Cupper. His finest moment came when, alongside Rory, he birdied 17 to close out a charging Finau and Koepka. The draw was kind to him in the singles, he edged the scoreboard further on with a well-deserved third point to cap a remarkable week. 8/10

Tyrrell Hatton (W1, L2, D0). Anyone would have played second fiddle to Casey in the fourballs and he had a baptism of fire against JT, Spieth and their betterball 61 but still Europe took them down the 18th. Got off the mark and was more involved in a brilliant 3&2 dismantling of DJ and Fowler. 6/10

Rory McIlroy (W2, L3, D0). McIlroy’s Ryder Cup began and ended in desperate fashion with a birdie-free fourball and then having the stinker of the final hole against Justin Thomas after some incredible play which went unrewarded. In between there was some magic with his old sparring partners Poulter and Garcia but the abiding memory is of shaking hands with Thomas by the drop zone on 18. 6/10

Francesco Molinari (W5, L0, D0). How on earth do you top winning the Open Championship? You do what no other European player has done and take all manner of major winners down, one after the other. To top it all off the record books will show that he deservedly secured the winning point. He had never won a Ryder Cup match before this. 10/10

Alex Noren (W2, L1, D0). The big question was whether we were going to get the thrusting Noren of Friday or the out-of-sorts Noren the following day in the singles? Thankfully we got the former and he won a great match with DeChambeau to bring the curtain down. On day one he and Garcia were exceptional, better than anyone, in the Friday whitewash. 8/10

Thorbjorn Olesen (W1, L1, D0). He he was ‘benched’ on Saturday after playing steadily enough with Rory on Friday. Unfortunately McIlroy was out of sorts and they were done for by the 16th. To re-emerge two days later and sink Jordan Spieth 5&4 with five birdies is almost unthinkable and came at the most timely moment. Brilliant. 7/10

Ian Poulter (W2, L2, D0). He got Rory going on Friday afternoon but then lost twice on Saturday with faltering partners on Saturday. But this is Poulter and this is the Ryder Cup and this is the singles where he has never lost. He might be 33 places below Dustin Johnson on the world rankings but why would that matter? For all the quality in this competition there’s not another player you would want to play the last with everything on the line. He bombed it past DJ, drilled it to six feet and the putt was conceded. Magic. 8/10

Jon Rahm (W1, L2, D0). Got unlucky on the first morning when Finau ricocheted his way to a birdie at 16, then played poorly with Poulter on Saturday. There was plenty of energy and positivity but no points. And then he faced Tiger in the singles and a more measured Rahm kept his nose ahead all day. Cue bear hugs, cue tears. 7/10

Justin Rose (W2, L2, D0). After all that went on at East Lake and recent weeks in the States the concern was how much Rose would have left in the tank? The answer was plenty; three times he led us off, twice he brought home the points. He looked a good bet against Webb Simpson but the underplayed American was rock-solid and saw him off at the 16th. 7/10

Henrik Stenson (W3, L0, D0). He might have played in one of the fourballs if it wasn’t for the brilliance of ‘Moliwood’, as it was we had to settle for two lead-off foursomes with his old mucker Rose, winning both. If anyone summed up the beauty of Bjorn’s plan it was Stenson. The singles, against Bubba, seemed a formality given how rested and dominant the Swede had been. He did him 5&4. 9/10

Thomas Bjorn. Let’s not forget how fancied the star-studded and spangled Americans were going into these matches and how, after all this time, they would win over here. Let’s not forget how his picks were questioned. Now let’s remember how he had the course set up and quite how calm and calculated Bjorn has been throughout his leadership. Whatever the situation he’s trusted himself, he had a plan and he both stuck to it and was fluid with it and, what really came across, is how his team bought into his captaincy. He was beautifully low key and deserves all the credit that’s on his way. 9/10