Tide is turned by the Spanish Armada as late Serg stuns USA
Captain Clarke raises his glass to wonder pair who fought back from 4-hole deficit
On golf’s greatest stage drama and pulsating passion are par for the course.
But even by the Ryder Cup’s high standards, what happened yesterday morning was special.
In the 40 previous stagings of this wonderful event we’ve been treated to countless thrilling comebacks and nail-biting momentum swings.
Yesterday we witnessed another worthy of celebration through the ages.
And if Darren Clarke is holding that precious little pot of gold by tea-time tonight, he will look back on Saturday lunchtime and raise a glass to the Spanish Armada who turned the tide Europe’s way.
All morning Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera-Bello were toiling, not through any fault of their own but simply due to the inspired golf of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, who was bordering on superhuman on the front nine.
With f ive bl istering birdies in their first seven holes, the Euro duo hadn’t done a heck of a lot wrong in f inding themselves three down at the turn. Make that four by the 12th tee and the writing looked on the wall in a foursomes session that seemed destined for a dead heat to keep the USA two ahead.
Then it came, that little gl immer of hope, as a bogey on the par- three 13th reduced the gap to a still unlikely three down with five to play.
From the 15th to the 17th, time and again the Americans tried to close the door only to find Garcia jamming in his foot or Cabrera-Bello jemmying the lock with his putter, as he did at 16.
Spieth had just watched in disbelief as his birdie putt teetered on the edge of a four-inch drop when the rookie stepped up to roll home a courageous 14-footer to rack up their second hole on the bounce.
Then when Serg io drained another one on the next to haul themselves all square going up the last, the most damaging dunt yet to America’s psyche hit like a sledgehammer.
How crucial that half could prove in the end.
In the space of 24 hours Europe had gone from 4- 0 down, whitewashed and worried, to just one adrift.
Huge credit is once again due to the star pairing of Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters for delivering a 4&2 victory over Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler on the 16th green.
The same place they had ripped off the scalps of Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar the previous evening. It’s no surprise that Rory is leading his team by breathtaking example.
But what a find Pieters has been because the 24-year- old wild card is more than living up to the hype whipped up by his captain when Clarke declared him a future world No.1.
On the evidence of his booming game, dead- eye accuracy and fearlessly unflappable demeanour, it’s hard to argue with his skipper’s assessment.
But as terrific as Pieters and McIlroy were, as solid as Justin Rose and another debutant Chris Wood were in their one-up win over Zach Johnson and Jimmy Walker, they were all upstaged by that show of Spanish flair.
Comparisons with the legendary pairing of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal are as inevitable as they are favourable. Thankfully without the dancing.
But Garcia revealed he saw more of himself in his 32-year-old partner, who has comfortably handled his first two outings, delivering a point on Friday and now a precious half that felt more like a win.
Garcia said: “It’s his first Ryder Cup and he reminds me of a little Spanish guy a few years ago. It was tough out there. I mean, they played so well.
“We played really good foursomes. We were consistent, giving ourselves chances, making birdies, but they had
an amazing start. We just kept telling each other: ‘Keep at it, keep putting on pressure and hopefully at some point they will slow down a little bit.’
“We still believed. We never gave up. After the little putt I missed on 11, it didn’t look great. But we kept at it.
“They kept throwing darts at us. We made an amazing birdie on 12 just to half the hole, thanks to my partner’s putt. Then we just saw a little window, a tiny chance, and grabbed the moment.
“I had to take a lot of breaths on 17 and 18 because the emotions were so high. To be able to get it back to all square, I’m so happy.”
Cabrera-Bello added: “Like Sergio said, we really didn’t feel like we had many options at the beginning.
“They were just cruising. But then they made a few mistakes, we saw our window of opportunity and played well down the last few holes.
“I’ve never felt anything like this. I’ve really been loving the entire Ryder Cup experience.
“Normally I get chicken skin on the last few holes if I’m in contention. Here I get it pretty much on every walk from green to tee, on every hole on every putt. It’s extremely exciting.”
As is Cabrera-Bello’s talent.
We saw a little window, a tiny chance, and we grabbed the moment