Sunday, September
29, 2002
Europe wins the
Ryder Cup
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SUTTON COLDFIELD,
England (AP) - The underdogs were the best from top to bottom.
Ripping a page out
of the American playbook, Europe won early and won big with its
best players. And that inspired the rest of a no-name cast to
snatch the Ryder Cup away from Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and
a heavily favored U.S. squad.
"It was a huge
risk," Colin Montgomerie said. "And it worked very,
very well."
Europe beat the Americans
at their own game Sunday, winning the singles matches for only
the sixth time in history to capture the most precious golf prize
on the continent.
"Hopefully,
that will say to the Americans we can play singles, and we can
compete with them and also beat them," Montgomerie said.
"It was a superb day for European golf."
The final score was
15 1/2-12 1/2, the largest margin by either side since Europe
scored 16 1/2 points in 1985, the first time the Ryder Cup was
played at The Belfry. Sam Torrance was the star that day, making
the clinching putt.
He was equally important
as the European captain.
"He took a hell
of a gamble by front-loading his team like he did," U.S.
captain Curtis Strange said. "Because if they don't do well,
in my mind it's over."
No one was more magnificent
than Monty.
He led the charge
by beating Scott Hoch in the opening match and whipped the partisan
crowd into a frenzy early. Montgomerie was unbeaten at The Belfry,
never trailing in any of the 82 holes he played this week.
Phillip Price helped
bring up the rear.
A timid Welshman
who is ranked No. 119 in the world, Price scored a surprisingly
easy victory over Mickelson that deflated any American hopes of
a comeback.
In the middle was
Niclas Fasth, who survived a spectacular finish by Paul Azinger,
and Paul McGinley, who clinched the Cup with an 8-foot par putt.
"Out of the
shadows come heroes," Torrance said. "And that's where
Paul McGinley and Phillip Price came."
Not many have heard
of these guys before, but the Americans sure won't forget them.
"We don't give
Sam's team enough credit because they can really play," Strange
said.
Some of the blame
was directed at Strange for keeping his best two players _ Mickelson
and Woods _ at the bottom of the lineup, keeping them from producing
points to stop European momentum.
Woods wound up playing
a meaningless match, and he conceded a 4-foot par putt to Jesper
Parnevik to lose the hole and halve the match.
"I wish it would
have come down to our match, but unfortunately it didn't,"
Woods said.
It was over quickly
for the Americans.
Europe led in the
first six matches, and it took 1 hour, 21 minutes for a U.S. lead
to be posted on the leaderboard. By then, the roars could be heard
from all corners of The Belfry, sounding like a stampede closing
in on the Americans.
"You hear the
crowd roaring, and it puts more pressure on you," Mickelson
said. "You know your team isn't doing well."
They know the feeling.
Three years ago at
Brookline, a desperate U.S. team trailed 10-6 going into the last
day and put its best players at the front of the lineup. They
won the first six matches, fired up the fans and staged the greatest
comeback in Ryder Cup history.
What made Torrance's
tactic so risky is that he didn't need a comeback. Still, he sent
out first the only seven players who had won matches during the
first two days, putting the Ryder Cup in their hands.
"This had nothing
to do with me," Torrance said. "I led them to the water,
and they drank copiously."
More than 30,000
fans stuck around The Belfry afterward, singing and chanting in
the dark, not ready to leave what felt like a magic kingdom.
The European players
held nothing back.
Sergio Garcia sprinted
down the 18th fairway and leapt into the arms of Pierre Fulke,
who was still playing his match with Davis Love III.
Love was upset, and
he and Fulke decided to halve their match.
"It's hard not
to celebrate," Love said. "It just wasn't the way to
finish a match."
The rest of the Europeans
raced across the 18th green, and tossed McGinley into the lake.
He emerged with an Irish flag and a smile that won't fade any
time soon.
"Our top guns
went out at the start, but it was unlikely that the first six
matches would all be won," McGinley said. "Phillip Price
and I talked about it at breakfast. One of us was going to be
a hero. One of us is going to win this."
The Ryder Cup was
delayed one year by the terrorist attacks.
Both teams had players
that otherwise wouldn't have qualified because their games had
deteriorated in the last 12 months.
No matter.
The Ryder Cup is
always a nail-biter, and this was no exception.
David Toms made an
80-foot birdie putt after electing to hit off a brick path on
No. 5, then made three clutch putts to rally for a 1-up victory
over Garcia.
David Duval showed
tremendous grit by halving his match with Darren Clarke. He matched
birdies by Clarke on the 13th, 15th and 17th holes to keep from
falling behind, then earned a half-point by making a 10-foot par
putt on the 18th.
They were the only
two Americans who earned points in the first six matches, and
Scott Verplank _ the first Ryder Cup rookie to be a captain's
pick _ won his match.
It all came down
to Europe's four rookies, and they delivered.
Fasth earned a crucial
half-point that could have been more if not for Azinger holing
a bunker shot on the 18th to keep alive slim U.S. hopes.
"I asked my
caddie before I hit it, 'I need to hole this, don't I?' He didn't
even answer me," Azinger said. "I had to hole it."
McGinley was 2-down
to Jim Furyk before catching him on the 17th hole. After Furyk
nearly holed out from the same bunker Azinger was in, McGinley's
par putt was true.
The Americans still
lead the overall series 24-8-2, but Europe has walked away with
the gold trophy after six of the last meetings.
"This stings,"
Love said. "We've been waiting three years to win it again.
It's hard to imagine we don't have it."
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