Tuesday, September 28, 1999
Ryder Cup — and golf — get a boost
from a super Sunday
By Hunki Yun
The Orlando Sentinel
BROOKLINE, Mass. — There was Tiger Woods, spraying champagne
on his teammates and onto the crowd below from the roof of The
Country Club's clubhouse.
There was David Duval, raising both arms in triumph after defeating
Jesper Parnevik on the 14th green, then cupping his right hand
to his ear in a physical manifestation of the old crowd-inciting
cheer, “I can't hear you.”
These superstars, the two best players in the world, shed their
normally placid - at times grim - exteriors and let loose in an
uncharacteristic emotional display.
All it took was the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history
and perhaps the most dramatic golf event ever.
Until last Thursday, they shared equally detached views of
this biennial competition, calling it an “exhibition”
and otherwise downplaying its prominent place in the golf world.
“Well, for me, personally,” said Woods before the
event began, “it's nice to go out there and play and have
some fans cheering for us.”
It sounded more like he was going out to play the first round
of the Skins Game.
At The Country Club, the Ryder Cup got into their souls.
“It's something you can't explain and you can't appreciate
until you've been a part of it,” said Duval Sunday night
after completing his first Ryder Cup.
It couldn't have come at a better time for the Ryder Cup. After
two consecutive European losses and the grumbling from the U.S.
camp, it was clear what this team event was on the decline.
The Ryder Cup wasn't exactly on the verge of extinction, but
interest was waning — especially among the key players. The
worst thing that could have happened was another European upset,
which would have further alienated the players and the public.
Instead, Sunday's best-case scenario not only made the Ryder
Cup front-page news worldwide, it lifted its prominence in the
minds of these key players, who will be Ryder Cup fixtures for
the next two decades.
While this year's event was an eye-opener for the young Americans,
it became a source of motivation for the Europeans.
In 2001, the Ryder Cup Matches will be played in England, and
the hometown Europeans - whose passion for the event is already
substantial - will be ready for war.
They will be fueled by the memories of the premature American
celebration after Justin Leonard's 50-foot putt clinched the Cup
for the U.S. and the heckling of some players - especially the
think-skinned Colin Montgomerie - by the huge partisan crowds.
The Europeans saw these incidents as huge displays of disrespect,
unforgivable offenses in a sport grounded in sportsmanship.
“I use it now as a motivating factor,” said Montgomerie,
the European leader. “I have a lot of ambition in me, and
that tends to bring it out.”
Don't be surprised if the Europeans use Brookline as a rallying
cry in the tradition of the Alamo, the Maine and Pearl Harbor.
In a single day, the fabric of the event changed. It is now
more important than ever, and both sides are already pointing
toward the 2001 Ryder Cup.
The Europeans want the Ryder Cup back; the Americans will be
ready.
The countdown has begun.
(c) 1999, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/.
On America Online, use keyword: OSO.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
|
