Davis Love’s jousting with Darren Clarke will shape the Ryder Cup mood

Over the first couple of days of the 39th Ryder Cup at the Medinah Country Club four years ago, everything was going perfectly to plan for then US captain Davis Love III.

Leading 10–6 with just the singles to play it seemed as if the US team had already built an insurmountable lead. All they required was 4½ points from the remaining 12 points on offer to win and surely home advantage would be enough to see them home.

This was potentially the crowning moment of a great career in the professional game for the proud Davis Love and a family already steeped in the game of professional and amateur golf, (Davis was born in 1964, the day after his father, a nationally recognised golf instructor, Davis Love Jnr, had competed in the final round of the US Masters. He later died in a plane crash in 1988. His mother Helen was also a very enthusiastic low handicap amateur golfer).