Brookline memories inspire Leonard

FOR many professional athletes, it is the moment rather than the career that defines their legacy in the public’s perception, and Justin Leonard’s victory prance across the 17th green at Brookline nine years ago is quite definitively his moment.

The British Open in 1997, a Players Championship 12 months later and the US Amateur title in 1992 may well be included in the 36 year-old’s biography, but that 45-foot putt at the 1999 Ryder Cup and the wild celebrations it prompted at the end of a remarkable day’s golf will stay with the Texan to his dying day.

As he prepares to resume Ryder Cup action at Valhalla this week, Leonard’s putt has once again come to the forefront as Americans cling to a now distant memory of a victory in the competition they used to dominate.

“It’s been a lot of fun the last month or so since the PGA and the qualifying for the team was over,” Leonard said last night.

“I’ve been asked about it a lot, been able to relive it quite a bit. And it’s been a lot of fun, especially in Boston at the Deutsche Bank a few weeks ago, being pretty close to Brookline, I heard it at least once a hole, so that was a very fun week.

“I got home last week for the week off, and I woke up Monday morning and I was working out, flipped on the TV, and there was an hour special about Brookline. It’s been hard to escape, but I’ve enjoyed it.”

Leonard is making his first Ryder Cup appearance this week since that day, and he said he was looking for a return to the spirit of that day, infamous for Europeans because of the over-the-top US celebrations, but revered by Americans for the amazing last-day comeback.

The 45-foot putt at the 17th capped a remarkable fightback for the USA team, which had trailed Europe 10-6 going into the final day’s singles matches and finished it with a 14.5 to 13.5 victory, its last success in the Ryder Cup and one inspired by captain Ben Crenshaw’s famous Saturday night comment to the media that he had a feeling something was going to happen for his team.

“I hope we’re able to do that,” Leonard said.

“It’s hard to really see that kind of spirit when you’re facing a large deficit, and even as we were in ‘99.

“As I’ve seen it quite a few times, especially in the last few weeks, when Crenshaw sat up here on this stage and said, ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this and that’s all I’m going to say’. We believed in it.

“I think we’ve got a group here this week that believes we can go out there and do it this week.”

Leonard’s putt nine years ago was also memorable for the wild and controversial celebrations in sparked on and around the 17th green as US team-mates, caddies and players’ wives stormed the putting surface while Europe’s Jose Maria Olazabal waited to putt.

“I would have done it differently, sure,” Leonard admitted on Tuesday. “But I think you have to keep in mind, there was so much emotion that day and we had so much momentum going, and unfortunately that spilled over into it.

“I know for myself and for anybody that was on that team, it didn’t take away from our victory at all, but I think we all would have done some things differently.”

Leonard joined 2008 captain Paul Azinger and his team-mates for a tour of the Muhammad Ali Centre in downtown Louisville on Monday night and said he could not help but be inspired by the retrospective of the life of boxing’s “Greatest”, just as he said he had been at Brookline when Crenshaw asked the then-Governor of Texas, George W Bush, to read a poem to the team about the defending of the Alamo.

“Ninety-nine, it was very special, and maybe even more special for me because I am from the State of Texas. You know, all growing up and studying our state history, I knew quite a bit about the Alamo; and to have President Bush come in and read that speech was very special.

“I think it’s just a bonus to the week when things like that happen. Last night we went to the Muhammad Ali Centre, and it was pretty inspirational to get a sense of what he went through in his life and all the things that he did outside of the sports world.

“I don’t think that we as players need that for further motivation. I think the motivation is already there. But it just adds some memories to the week.”