U.S. TEAM ALL ABOUT REDEMPTION
Players eager to atone for ’12 collapse
Tom Watson watched the 2012 Ryder Cup at his home in Kansas, cheering and celebrating as a U.S. wrecking ball built up a seemingly insurmountable 10-4 lead late Saturday at Medinah Country Club. Then came Sunday. And ultimately a call from the PGA of America to Watson’s home.
Watson’s heart sank and his stomach churned on the final day of the 2012 competition in Illinois. While the contest started to turn in the last two matches the day before, both won by Europe, the Americans needed just 4½ points out of 12 available in singles to win the little gold trophy. But they won just three matches Sunday and lost a staggering heartbreaker 14½-13½.
It was the fifth loss in six matches for the USA, which led the PGA of America to dig into the archives, toss aside recent precedent and call upon Watson, who at 65 will be the oldest captain in Ryder Cup history.
He also happens to be the last U.S. captain to win on foreign soil as he led the team to victory at the Belfry in England 21 years ago.
Medinah, however, has been on his mind heading toward this week’s 40th edition of the biennial matches, which begin Friday at Gleneagles. Using 2012 as a rallying cry for the underdog Ameri- cans, he’ll make sure it’s on the minds of his new team.
“There is that type of redemption theme that I have used with the players,” Watson said. “Whenever I failed, I wanted to redeem myself in the best and quickest possible way. ... I understand the gut feeling that they had in 2012 ... and that to me is a great motivator.”
Fourteen of this week’s 24
“I am still heartbroken with what happened the last time. ... It still stings.”
Keegan Bradley, on the 2012 Ryder Cup
competitors played at Medinah — seven from each team. Of the Americans, six lost in singles on the final day.
“It was a week that I’ll never forget,” said Webb Simpson, who lost to Ian Poulter on the final hole. “All the guys were playing so well, and it was kind of a shock Sunday afternoon. I’ll never for- get the feeling that I had watching the other team celebrate.”
Keegan Bradley, who lost to Rory McIlroy, was so wounded that he has not unpacked a suitcase full of Ryder Cup clothing and mementos he took home from Medinah. It still stands zipped up in a closet at his home.
“That whole Sunday is a night- mare,” Bradley said. “Even an hour before it ended it looked like we were going to win. Then with 45 minutes left, it looked like we were going to win. And then it was over. It was such an abrupt ending that it was a sudden pain. ... I am still heartbroken with what happened the last time. It still hurts. It still stings.”
Jim Furyk will play in his ninth Ryder Cup. He has been on the winning team twice. In 2012, he lost the last two holes to fall to Sergio Garcia in a crucial match. But the memory won’t be in his head this week.
“I don’t think you ever really need motivation to play in the Ryder Cup,” Furyk said. “Obviously I’m disappointed in the 2-6 record at this point, but 3-6 sounds a lot better. So hopefully we can have a good week.
“But there is no extra motivation needed.”
That’s how Zach Johnson sees it. He was the only American on this year’s team to win his singles match in 2012, defeating Graeme McDowell.
“I don’t know if it matters if you’ve won one or lost one to get incentive. The incentive is so great regardless,” Johnson said. “I know the European team wants to win, and I know we want to win. Is there added incentive? Maybe, just because of how we lost. At the same time, if we make 2012 that big of a deal, that won’t help us. It’s over. That’s the way sport works.”
The Americans, it turns out, aren’t the only ones that remember Medinah. Garcia said Europe can use it to its advantage, too.
“We can use both the positivity of the Sunday and the lesson of Friday and Saturday to make sure we don’t get far behind again,” Garcia said. “We can use what happened in Medinah to remind ourselves to be extra focused this time on Friday and Saturday. ...
“At Medinah, we were playing pretty good, but the Americans were just insane. They were making putts from all over the place, and then in the last two matches on Saturday, everything flipped. ... All of a sudden we had all of the momentum. Yes, incentive matters. But the Ryder Cup is all about momentum.”