Europe holds off Sunday charge from U.S. to win 2nd straight Ryder Cup

Team Europe narrowly avoided the biggest collapse in Ryder Cup history, holding off a Sunday charge from the United States to claim the 45th edition of the event in nail-biting fashion with a final score of 15-13.

Europe needed only two points to retain the Ryder Cup after entering the singles matches with a 12-5 lead. However, it took until Match 8 when Shane Lowry tied Russell Henley with a dramatic birdie on 18.

"The Ryder Cup means everything to me, honestly," Lowry said while fighting back tears in his post-round interview. "I've won The Open in Ireland. It's amazing, it's a dream come true. But the Ryder Cup, for me, is everything."

Europe officially won its second straight Ryder Cup when Tyrrell Hatton tied Match 10 against Collin Morikawa, raising the visitors' point total to 14.5.

Prior to Lowry's dramatic moment, Ludvig Aberg won Europe's only match of the day with a 2&1 victory over Patrick Cantlay. Matt Fitzpatrick notched a half point with a tie against Bryson DeChambeau in a match he once led by five.

Europe also picked up a half point prior to the start of Sunday's singles matches when Viktor Hovland had to withdraw with a neck injury, invoking the rarely used "envelope rule." When each captain submits their Sunday singles lineup, they place one player's name in an envelope. That golfer sits out in the event an opponent withdraws due to illness or injury more than 30 minutes before the first match. Harris English's name was in the U.S. envelope.

However, Europe still would've won the Ryder Cup even if Hovland had played and lost to English.

Here are the full results of the matches:

• Match 1: Cameron Young 🇺🇸 1-up over Justin Rose 🇪🇺
• Match 2: Justin Thomas 🇺🇸 1-up over Tommy Fleetwood 🇪🇺
• March 3: Matt Fitzpatrick 🇪🇺 ties Bryson DeChambeau 🇺🇸
• Match 4: Scottie Scheffler 🇺🇸 1-up over Rory McIlroy 🇪🇺
• Match 5: Ludvig Aberg 🇪🇺 2&1 over Patrick Cantlay 🇺🇸
• Match 6: Xander Schauffele 🇺🇸 4&3 over Jon Rahm 🇪🇺
• Match 7: J.J. Spaun 🇺🇸 2&1 over Sepp Straka 🇪🇺
• Match 8: Shane Lowry 🇪🇺 ties Russell Henley 🇺🇸
• Match 9: Ben Griffin 🇺🇸 1-up over Rasmus Hojgaard 🇪🇺
• Match 10: Tyrrell Hatton 🇪🇺 ties Collin Morikawa 🇺🇸
• Match 11: Robert MacIntyre 🇪🇺 ties Sam Burns 🇺🇸
• Match 12: Viktor Hovland 🇪🇺 ties Harris English 🇺🇸

The victory marked the first time a visiting team has won the Ryder Cup since the "Miracle at Medinah" in 2012, when Europe stormed back to stun the United States in Illinois. In total, Europe has now won nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups dating back to 2002.