Rookies rule after halting American comeback
Having fallen 6-2 behind on Friday, they desperately needed a repeat of those daring deeds at Oakland Hills over the weekend and nothing was surer than they would come out fighting on Saturday morning.
If they didn’t, they’d have been as dead as the previous day’s news. They did and for much of the session it looked like they would win all four matches.
The trend was checked initially by Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood who wrested a half-point away from Jay Haas and Chris DiMarco and then in the most impressive and courageous manner imaginable by English rookies David Howell and Paul Casey.
One down playing 15, Howell stiffed his approach to level the match. They were behind again when Furyk judged his 18-footer to perfection for another birdie at 16 and the lead again for the States. Howell then stood on the tee at the 200 yards 17th and fired a superb three-iron at the flag that bounced on the front edge and ran up to five feet.
He was eventually left with that putt to square the match. It was a pressure-laden moment redolent of so many others in Ryder Cup. Casey was equal to the occasion. Match all-square again.
Down the last they came, all 494 yards, and after two shots by each side, it was more or less Casey v Campbell. The Englishman was on, about 50 feet right of the flag with an enormous slope between himself and the flag. Campbell was short but with a more clear putt to the target. And it was then that Casey derived inspiration from somewhere to judge his fiendishly difficult putt with a 20-foot break to perfection.
He got it to three feet, Campbell chipped strongly, missed from six feet and Casey calmly holed out for four and the match. It was the critical moment of the Cup. The players went to lunch knowing that little or no damage had been inflicted on them after a fraught morning when the 48,000 fans found their voices and chanted “USA, USA” until your ears were almost ringing. Howell and Casey, a couple of rookies and not a pair many would have fancied against Furyk and Campbell, had turned the tide in amazing fashion. “We showed our depth in strength out there this morning,” glowed captain Langer. “Paul Casey and David Howell worked magnificently. They came into the contest with their A-games and I’m proud of both of them. Their win was vital because we all know that momentum swings are common in this game. Paul and David played some of the best golf you will ever see from two partners making their debuts together in the Ryder Cup.”
That was lunchtime. After the end of Saturday’s play and with Europe leading by an unprecedented 11-5, Langer was quick to return to the importance of what Howell and Casey had achieved.
“I’m very proud of my team. They played awesome. All of them. There’s nobody that really stands out but I do want to mention the two guys that won the foursome match this morning - Casey and Howell. Many of you probably thought I was sacrificing a point when I sent them out together but deep down I really felt they would be the surprise of the morning. To win the last two holes and gain a huge point for us - the momentum swing we were hoping for - was huge.”
For Irish supporters, the big thrill was the manner in which Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington recovered from losing the first two holes against no less a pair than Davis Love and Tiger Woods to win by 4 and 3 in Saturday’s afternoon foursomes. Harrington may be a veteran, but for McGinley it was his first Ryder Cup win and his sense of joy was unconfined. The support they received from a large bunch of Irishmen draped in the Tricolour was one of the most colourful sights of the entire weekend. A guy in an orange wig really captured everybody’s attention.
“He’s my caddy’s father,” McGinley explained. “My caddy’s girlfriend was bumped off the plane to put him on. Tom Reynolds is a real character. You know, it was great to have the Irish support out there. We’ve had massive support from everybody out there, but let’s not forget this is a European team. What the two English guys did this morning has really swung things back in our favour. It looked like a 4-0 drumming at one stage, but they played well for the team.”
Watching the contrast between Harrington and McGinley’s “Team Ireland” and Team America in this foursome was little short of fascinating. Whereas Pádraig and Paul chatted and planned, Davis and Tiger just did their own thing. Harrington admitted to being flat after the morning and when the first two holes were lost, he went further: “I really didn’t see a way out of it against such good players.”
However, McGinley insisted that from there on they should play the golf course and forget about their opponents and who they were.
“We’ve been pals for twenty years and it’s the first time he’s ever listened to me,” laughed McGinley.
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