I thought Europe would win. I thought they would win easily. How wrong I was. The United States showed the skeptics like myself that they weren't just trying to keep up their spirits with the positive talk - they knew what they were doing. Paul Azinger was a magnificent captain - he had a plan that he got across to the team, and they all played for him as well as for themselves and their country.
The Europeans can't be faulted - they all put in so much, and most of them played some of the golf of their lives. Robert Karlsson had seven birdies in the last ten holes on Friday afternoon, and got a half a point. Graeme McDowell played beautiful golf all week, and yet after two matches of stellar golf he was on half a point.
The Americans just made so few mistakes. WHen Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, Anthony Kim - when they had putts, they made them. They took all of their opportunities, and gave precious few to the Europeans.
They were a phenomenal team. They used the crowd to their advantage, and guys like Boo and Holmes really got them fired up. I thought it was great - the crowd were extremely respectful with only a few blips that you get anywhere.
The guys I feel sorriest for are McDowell and Poulter - they continued their superb golf into Sunday, and by the time they won their matches it mean very little - the adrenaline was gone and the fist-pumps were omitted.
I was one of the loudest critics of the decision to leave out Clarke for Poulter, and while I said it wasn't Poulter's fault to be chosen, I still didn't accept that he was right for the team. On seeing him take that point with McDowell last night, I took back everything, and vowed not to criticize him again. He was fantastic for the team - Faldo got that absolutely right - when it came to making birdies and pars to win and halve holes, Poults knew what he was doing, slammed them in the back, and fed off the excitement. He's a brilliant Ryder Cup player, and I'll be delighted when he makes it into the Celtic Manor team on Merit.
I'm not going to mention my predictions too much, as most of them were wrong, but I managed to get one or two right. I thought Boo would be huge for the States, and I honestly believe they would have found it much tougher without him. The crowd love him, and he kept things lighthearted. Kim, my other pick for the US, got off to a poor start on Friday, but came into his own then, thrived off the atmosphere and Mickelson's great play, and finished it off in style by clobbering Sergio today.
I really hoped Oliver Wilson would get a few games, and although he only had one appearance before the singles, he played some of the best golf of the Europeans. He showed how level-headed he is, particularly today, where he kept his match against Boo going for a couple of holes more than it looked like. He had a great up and down on the 14th, and then holed out from fifteen feet on the 15th. He played lovely, steady golf today, and got beaten 3&2 by a guy who was about 8 under. My favourite moment of the weekend was his putt on the 17th on Saturday morning to win his foursomes match with Stenson - he's a quiet player, but he deserved a bit of a roar then. He showed himself to be a great player under pressure, and he'll be back in Wales as well.
I'm delighted for Azinger. I'm delighted for the US team. Most of all, I'm delighted for world golf. People were worried the Cup would get boring if Europe won again - by Friday afternoon we could tell that wasn't true, but it is great for the US to take this won. I have never seen a group of 12 golfers play better. Kenny Perry and JB Holmes were the perfect home boys, with Boo Weekley pretty much adopted by the time it started.
Hunter Mahan showed what a class act he is - the putt against Casey on the 17th today is an image that will be seen for decades, in what was one of the best matches I've ever seen.
If I go on, I'm just going to keep saying how great everything was. It was great. It's the best event in the sporting calendar - 3 days intensive golf. The quality of the golf this time was quite literally unbelievable, and I don't think it will ever be matched.
I'll be back in a day or so with anything else that comes to my mind, and a bit of a post mortem.
All I can say for the moment is congratulations to everyone - they did the golfing world proud.
I can't wait for Celtic Manor already, but let's appreciate Valhalla.
No comments:
Post a Comment