Unrelenting pressure makes Ryder Cup irresistible
MEDINAH, Illinois: The glorious unpredictability of the Ryder Cup was unveiled in all its majesty on Sunday when Europe pulled off one of the most unexpected and dramatic comebacks seen on a golf course.
Against all expectations, the Europeans won eight of the final day’s 12 singles matches to overturn a four-point deficit and defeat a United States team that seemed destined to win.
The Ryder Cup, more than any other golf event, rarely disappoints because it tests the nerves as much as the skills of every player, but rarely has it seen a day as captivating as Sunday at Medinah.
There is no prize money and no ranking points, but the pressure can be overbearing. The conflicting emotions of winning and losing are heightened.
For the Americans, Sunday’s defeat was unpalatable.
“It was certainly a difficult loss,” captain Davis Love III said. “It’s never fun, any way it happens. Today was certainly not what we expected.”
Tiger Woods only got half-apoint from his four matches this time, while Bubba Watson, who won the Masters in a playoff in April, lost his singles match on Sunday when the weight of expectation was heaviest.
So too did Webb Simpson, the reigning US Open champion, and Keegan Bradley, last year’s PGA Championship winner, as well as four-times Major winner Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker, who pocketed more than $10million when he won the FedExCup playoffs earlier this month.
For others, the unique format of the Ryder Cup can be a source of inspiration. The Englishman Ian Poulter says the pressure-cooker atmosphere brings out the best in him.
He has never won a Major, but won all four of his matches at the Ryder Cup, making clutch putts when it really mattered, hugging and high-fiving his teammates like he’d scored the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl.
“It’s a passion I have, it’s a passion I’ve seen at the Ryder Cup for years and years as a kid growing up, and it’s something that comes from within,” Poulter said. “I just love it. It’s something very, very special to be a part of.”
Belgian rookie Nicolas Colsaerts made eight birdies and an eagle to win a four-ball match last Friday, while 43year-old Scot Paul Lawrie won his singles match on Sunday in his first Ryder Cup appearance since 1999.
Players feel the pressure more in Ryder Cup because every shot they play impacts on their teammates, something that doesn’t happen in regular tour events.
“It is the most special and unique golf tournament we have, period,” World No 1 Rory McIlroy said. “There’s nothing better than celebrating a win with your teammates. We don’t get to do it very often, and you know, when we do, it’s just so nice to have these guys around and to celebrate it with them.”
The crowds are bigger and louder than at normal tournaments. The polite claps and applause from the galleries give way to full-throated roars and football chants.
The pressure is relentless and escalates day by day, hole by hole. On Sunday, it was the last two holes of the three-day event that proved decisive.
The 17th hole, a tricky par-3 where players hit across the water, provided a great amphitheatre for the drama, but the key moments all went Europe’s way.
Mickelson and Jim Furyk both lost their matches after heading to the 17th with the lead. Webb Simpson and Steve Stricker also lost after being all square on the 17th.
“What happened today will go down in the history books of the Ryder Cup. It was a huge comeback,” European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said. – Reuters