Sorry Seve, Europeans went the full Monty
So much so, that I simply cannot wait for the second semi-final between Asia and Africa, whenever that’s down for decision.
Most of the credit for Europe’s win seems to have gone to the late Seve but the crucial steps on this fairway to heaven might well have been taken by Monty, whose commentary underlined, time and again, that there might be no ‘I’ in team, but there is in ‘captaincy’, certainly on his watch. You suspect the prospect of Colin forever telling the world what he did, and would have done, differently could have been motivation enough to edge the European lads over the line.
One fresh quibble, if I may. While accepting that this tired old business of conceding putts and matches is as ingrained in the fabric of the sport as slacks, it must be eradicated. Much like the once-noble business of kicking the ball out of play for an injured player, what might have been a grand gesture when Nicklaus spared Jacklin in ’69 now plays like contrived sportsmanship or, as was probably the case with Tiger on 18, a bout of the sulks.
This old nonsense casts Matt Kucher as the bad guy for asking Lee Westwood to do his business from a foot and even, to an extent, Olazabal, for insisting Francesco Molinari turn the draw into a win.
Make them all putt out.
