Sam just can’t walk away from
feasting. It was magnificent.”
Sam was back as a vicecaptain to Mark James in 1999.
“I learned more in that one year than I did all those times as a player,” states the 63-year-old.
He then took the reins himself for the memorable victory in 2002 over a strong US team led by Curtis Strange, an event delayed a year because of 9/11.
During those 12 months many of the selected team had played themselves out of form.
“That was challenging but it was tough for the US as well,” he said. “Nobody mentioned that, but they were in as much of a mess as we were.”
Torrance’s famous Singles order for the final day of a match tied 8-8 was always regarded as a last throw of the dice. But the strategy of putting his best players at the top of the order would have worked in any circumstance, he thinks.
“It was suggested to me a couple of years prior to my captaincy that you can do no worse with the best out first and the worst out last,” he said.
“Obviously I couldn’t describe the No 12 as my worst, you simply can’t do that. So I don’t know how I got it over. But there wasn’t any scenario where I thought it wouldn’t be right. If you’re behind. you want to catch up and if you’re ahead, get further ahead.”
Sam took a back seat after 2002 but had an idea Paul McGinley would recall him for 2014 at Gleneagles, and also Darren Clarke for this year. The two Irishmen are on record as saying Sam was the best captain they played under, a verdict shared by Colin Montgomerie.
“It’s fantastic they say that,” Sam admitted. “Why is it? I don’t know. I guess I must have been pretty good!”