Thought for the Day:
Miracles happen when you least expect them
Lazarus, eat your heart out
It may be several days, or perhaps weeks, before we can stop pinching ourselves and asking the question: ‘Did that final day of the Ryder Cup really happen?’ Even at several hours distance, the image of a scoreboard slowly being filled with the colour blue has an air of other-worldly fantasy, a sense that, much as we might like to dream of such things, they do not happen. And in 85 years of competition, they don’t. Yes, at Brookline in 1999 the Americans reversed a similar scoreline, but they were on home soil and had a raucous, deafening crowd roaring them on. Such a turnaround has never been achieved by an away team. And the 1999 Americans were also helped by Europe’s captain Mark James, who took the unusual decision of putting three rookies, (Jean Van de Velde, Jarmo Sandelin and Andrew Coltart), none of whom had played on the previous two days, in the top half of the draw. They were all heavily beaten and Team USA got the fast start it needed.
This time around Europe was offered no such help and Davis Love top-loaded his running order with in-form stars who had looked invincible – the first five places were taken by Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley, Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker, who had cumulatively taken 11 of 14 points available to them over the first two days of foursomes and fourball matches. They were all beaten in the singles. But even then, to those of us watching, it still seemed we had an impossible mountain to climb – yes, we could take pride in a stirring fightback but our lower order was filled with golfers playing well below their best – people like Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Francesco Molinari. The first three won, and Molinari fought Tiger Woods to a standstill, in the only halved match of the three days’ competition.
We know that the Ryder Cup is special and has the ability, like no other golfing event, to produce scintillating golf and the sort of drama that couldn’t be bettered by Hollywood scriptwriters with over-fertile imaginations. But Medinah 2012 is surely unlikely to ever be matched, either for excitement, surprise, spectacle or sheer improbability. The spirit of Seve Ballesteros was invoked many times over the three days but even his charismatic genius could not have engineered such a result. After the extraordinary summer of sport we have just witnessed, with incomparable performances by so many athletes in the Olympics and Paralympics, and Andy Murray taking the US Open for good measure, it was, surely, asking far too much for the Ryder Cup to put the icing on top of the cake. But it did, with a gallon of cherries.
Until now I had assumed that the Team of the Year trophy at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year would go to Team GB’s Olympians but now I’m not so sure.
Random Ryder thoughts
Jose Maria Olazabal is already being criticised for failing to realise that Rory McIlroy was not at the course an hour before his singles start time, and for benching Ian Poulter for the Friday fourballs in favour of Martin Kaymer. Nonsense. He oversaw the most astonishing victory and that justifies everything he did.
There were one or two inappropriate and even obscene comments shouted by the gallery, but these were isolated incidents by ignorant individuals and over the three days American fans were rightly partisan but very fair.
Tiger Woods now shares with Phil Mickelson the unenviable record of having lost more Ryder Cup points (18) than any other player – and he’s done it in a shorter time, having played 33 matches to Mickelson’s 38.
Ian Poulter’s self-confidence can cross the line into brash arrogance but in this event he is without equal.
Even over the first two days when they were sweeping all before them, Jim Furyk and Jason Dufner went about their business with the air of a couple of undertakers walking in front of a hearse.
If Rory McIlroy can emerge from a frantic dash to the course, arriving with only 11 minutes to spare, and shoot an approximate 32 for the front nine, perhaps he should get his time zones mixed up more often.
Bubba Watson and Ian Poulter exploded the myth that you need complete silence to hit a golf shot.
Quotes of the Week
What happened today will go down in the history books of the Ryder Cup
Jose Maria Olazabal
I want to thank them (team Europe) for what they did today. They gave me the best week of my life
Jose Maria Olazabal
They (team Europe) never really gave us an opening
Davis Love III
I didn’t really think about missing. There is only one choice you have – you have to make it
Martin Kaymer on his putt for victory
That’s just outside being conceived
Nick Faldo, after Luke Donald hit it to four feet in the second day fourballs
