How Seve’s sulk, an infected toe and rookie errors cost Europe dear

Bernard Gallacher tells James Corrigan he still rues failing to prevent the last US away win in 1993

‘Watson didn’t want to sign any stuff until Bruce Forsyth had finished on stage’

The last Europe captain to lose a Ryder Cup on home soil has a warning for Thomas Bjorn. Whatever the Dane does, he is unlikely to hear two of his most dominant performers ask not to play, lose another to a foot injury, or watch a first-timer throw away victory by three-putting the 17th.

Bernard Gallacher is not at Le Golf National, missing just his second match in 49 years. Instead the 69-year-old will watch it on television, just like two years ago, but the continual reference to 1993 and the 25th anniversary of America’s last away victory will inevitably transport him back to The Belfry.

At the Midlands course, Gallacher led Europe to their second defeat in succession. It was a close 15-13 reversal that was packed with quality but lacked the rancour of the 1991 match at Kiawah Island. Gallacher revealed that was by design.

“They had a presidential suite at The Belfry,” he said. “As home captain, they offered it to me but I said no. At Kiawah, Dave Stockton [the 1991 US captain] had commandeered all the best accommodation.

“I wasn’t going to do that to Tom Watson. I respected Tom but knew he could use it to his advantage. He’s a fair man, but a hard man. I found him courteous and straightforward, which is all I could ask for after Stockton and that Steve Pate incident [in 1991] and him only telling me five minutes before the singles that he would have to sit out.

“He didn’t have the courtesy to allow me to prepare David Gilford. That’s what really annoyed me about Stockton, not the players wearing camouflage hats and it being called ‘The War of the Shore’.

Instead, Gilford had to be withdrawn from the Europe team. “I had to go and tell him. He was very upset. It was poor form and there was a tacit understanding between Tom and me that after Kiawah, with the crowd behaviour and all that, we would keep it respectful. But I wouldn’t say it was over-the-top friendly.”

Indeed, the collegiate spirit did not even last past the gala dinner. Watson refused to sign Sam Torrance’s menu and so the match had its “row”. “That was all blown out of proportion, but then, it’s such a big build-up, the Ryder Cup seems to need one of these phoney wars to get it to the starting line,” Gallacher said. “We thought it was funny but Sam was annoyed. Tom didn’t want anything signed until Bruce Forsyth and Chris de Burgh had finished on stage as he thought it might de disruptive. We took the mick out of Sam after.”

By the Saturday lunchtime, Europe were up 7½-4½ but both Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer had informed their captain – during their wins in the morning foursomes – that they wanted to sit out the afternoon fourballs.

“Bernhard had been injured and even though Ian Woosnam and I wanted him to play, he was sure. Seve was the shock. He and Jose Maria Olazabal were two up against Davis Love and Tom Kite on the 14th. It was about midday and Seve knew I had to put in the afternoon pairings. He said, ‘I don’t want to play in the fourballs. I’m not playing well enough’.

“Olazabal and myself were remonstrating with Seve. But he was adamant. That was basically the start of Seve’s downfall, as far as I’m concerned. He always wanted to play, was always positive.

“But Seve was very negative all that week and no matter what I did, no matter what Olazabal did, he was just worried about his golf. He lost his singles as well.”

By then, Europe were down to 11 after Torrance’s withdrawal with an infected toe.

“It was ironic after what had happened with Pate but I gave Tom lots of notice and he came and checked Sam’s foot and Lanny Wadkins missed out.

“We started off a point ahead and seemed to be on the way when Woosie, Peter Baker and Joakim Haeggman all won, but then Barry Lane was beaten by Chip Beck, who was six under for the last five or something, and then it all started turning. The killer was when Costantino Rocca three-putted the 17th. He was one up against Davis Love, who then won the 18th. Nick Faldo halved with Paul Azinger when the game was already lost, but I’m sure he would have won when it mattered. It wasn’t a nice feeling, but it had been a great match.”

Gallacher thought he was done with the Ryder Cup, but with Ballesteros preferring to wait until

Spain in 1997 to take the captaincy, he was asked to stay on for Oak Hill two years later. “America were going for a hat-trick and the press was writing about them dominating again and how we ‘had to win’. But I wasn’t too worried. It was a relief to win in Rochester but there wasn’t much of a party.

“The Americans were such poor losers. We had a few drinks but had an early flight on Concorde. It’s amazing to think that including ’95, the Americans have only won three times in 11 matches and never won away. They won’t like that.” Bernard Gallacher represents Golf Care, a specialist insurance provider for golfers.