McGinley steers perfect course

When Tom Watson was appointed captain of the US Ryder Cup team he talked openly about having finishers in his team — players capable of closing the deal when the chips were down — and yesterday in the morning fourballs he got his wish.

In truth, the fourballs were a scrappy affair, far from the normal standards you would expect from players of this pedigree, but the matches were, nonetheless, compelling, if only because the US team fed off scraps for much of the morning — just about hanging in there until they finished with a flourish.

2½ to 1½ to the US didn’t seem a fair result for the Europeans but they only had themselves to blame. Quite simply, apart from the superlative partnership of Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, they weren’t ruthless enough. They hung around too long and by doing so they allowed the Americans to regain some initiative, which they ultimately exploited in full.