Europe Claims The Ryder Cup, Pavin Proud
USA left the Ryder Cup in Europe
United States started the final day of the Ryder Cup with a three-point deficit to lose the trophy to half a point in front of too good Europeans, who started the competition as main favorites although the US squad included world champions Tiger Woods. The American captain Corey Pavin declared he is extremely proud of the attitude the players had during the three days spent in Wales. However, he would also look disappointed of losing the chance of retaining the Ryder Cup. It was Rickie Fowler who birdied the last four holes sneak a half against Edoardo Molinari. This made Pavin claim the 21-year-old rookie played amazingly.
On the other side, Europe’s captain Colin Montgomerie spread all the praise over the entire team. Thus, they carried a 9-1/2 – 6-1/2 advantage on Monday’s singles. The victory shaped when Graeme McDowell, the one who won the US Open, made a 3-and-1 win over Hunter Mahan. Now that he led the Europeans through the Ryder Cup glory, Montgomerie declared he will retire from captaincy. “It’s a very proud moment for us all here in Europe. They all played to a man magnificently, they all gave 110 percent and that’s all you can ask. I want to talk about every player playing how well they did. They did magnificently. I knew I had a great 12. I just had to rely on certain people at certain times,” he said. The US came back at one point to threaten Europe. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods’s good performance didn’t prove to be enough for the Americans to get at least closer in the final day. Montgomerie praised both the US team and Woods particularly. “All credit to the American team. You played magnificently today. The three-point deficit was the reason why we won. They (the United States) came back extremely well. All credit to them. Tiger showed he was number one in the world. Phil Mickelson did brilliantly,” the captain added of Americans.
This was the first time since 1991 the Ryder Cup needed the last day’s singles in order to be decided. “We’ve won nine of the last 13. We’re starting to get down to that word ‘dominance’,” Luke Donald said, while the US expected to regain the Cup they didn’t win since 1993. Graeme McDowell made a birdie on 16 that simply impressed even the Americans, never-mid Montgomerie. “Graeme McDowell was put there for a good reason — he’s full of confidence and that showed. That birdie on 16 was just quite unbelievable. Quite unbelievable,” the captain added, while McDowell revealed he lived his most nervous moments in career. “I hoped that I wasn’t going to be needed. At that point, I got extremely nervous, and coming down the stretch there, I’ve never felt nerves like it in my life. The U.S. Open felt like a back nine with my dad back at Portrush compared to that,” the decisive man said.
Rory McIlroy, who also provided a wonderful performance this weekend holing a 5-foot par putt on the 18th, said this was the greatest week since he started to golf. This is what Montgomerie too said. “This is one of the finest moments of my golfing — wait a minute — this IS the greatest moment of my golfing career.” Although Pavin would declare his pride of the playing, things seemed to go wrong from the very beginning. The Europeans made a sensational debut after the rain stopped on Friday, Montgomerie’s selection taking the lead immediately. “We nearly got there today. We started off a little slow. We came back hard. We almost got there. I’m very proud of their resolve, of their sportsmanship and their fine play. I can only say it’s been an honor and a privilege to call them teammates,” the American said.
Mahan cut USA enthusiasm, making a real mess of the 17th as the bigger one came from Cink. This was 1 up on McIlroy to drive the par-four 15th. Cink missed also a 5-foot birdie putt. On the other side, Luke Donald produced a 20-foot birdie putts two times. Meanwhile Jim Furyk was inside 4 feet to keep the lead. Finally, Poulter also had a solid contribution to raise the cup of champagne in the end. “We have played from the heart today. And do you know what? We brought back this trophy. This is a special day,” he would also add.
