Straffan, Ireland – There was no magic swathed in Red, White and Blue pixie dust during Sunday’s Ryder Cup singles matches. No waking up the echoes of heroic efforts from Brookline. And there certainly weren’t any illusions that the United States is anywhere near the days when a Ben Hogan could introduce his squad as “the 12 finest golfers in the world.”
That honorarium now belongs to Europe. Seizing control of the singles matches early in the day at the K Club, Ian Woosnam’s squad never gave the Americans a chance to reprise its 1999 miracle finish in Massachusetts. Only seven years past, those days now seem like a millennium ago. Taking five of the first seven points, the Europeans came away with an 18 1/2-9 1/2 decision, and with it, its third consecutive triumph in these biennial matches.
Luke Donald, a Northwestern grad who still keeps a home in Chicago, gave Europe its 14th point of the matches when he beat Chad Campbell 2 and 1. That meant the hosts would retain the Cup. Moments later, Henrik Stenson beat American rookie Vaughn Taylor 4 and 3 to give his side the outright victory.
Besides its first-ever three-peat, Europe has now won five of the past six and seven-of-10 matches.
“If it wasn’t for a very difficult Sunday at Brookline, we’d have won six-of-six. That’s fairly dominant,” said Colin Montgomerie, who beat David Toms 1-up in the day’s opening match. “We could have put almost two teams out there as good as the one sitting here tonight.”
But it takes more than depth to explain the European success. The sight of burly Irishman Darren Clarke, sobbing on the green after closing out Zach Johnson, or sharing an embrace with teammates Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia, only hints at the emotions that come so naturally for Europe during this event.
Emotions that somehow transcend golf shots. There hasn’t been a European major champion since Paul Laurie won the 1999 British Open. Meanwhile, the Americans entered play with the top three ranked players in the world – Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk.
Along with that top-heavy strength, the U.S. made a great to-do about its team being closer than of the other recent U.S. sides. But none of it translated into very many made putts or match victories.
“I felt like a lot of our guys played pretty good golf individually this week. As a team we didn’t seem to play great at times,” Toms said. “We just didn’t pick each other up when we needed to like they did.”
The final score was the same as two years ago, when the Europeans won in a rout at Oakland Hills. This year’s event was much more closely contested, but the bottom line was the same – Europe was far tougher during the tough going.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
