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 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 4 1/2 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,beating 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 three-peat, Europe has won five of the past six and seven of 11 matches. And it would have been a record victory if not for Paul McGinley conceding a 25-foot putt on the 18th to J.J. Henry to halve their match.
“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 Europeans’ 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 Lawrie 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 the top-heavy strength, the U.S. made a great to-do about its team being closer than other recent U.S. sides. But none of it translated into 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.
The hosts won each of the five sessions. For the week, there were 11 matches that went the full 18 holes. Europe only lost one of them. Not only that, on four of those occasions, the Europeans birdied the 18th to win or halve the match, taking away that many more points and making the Americans’ task that much tougher.
“How many times were we in position to make those momentum-turning putts and we didn’t?” Woods said. “That’s something the European players do on a regular basis.”
In the end, each of the 12 Europeans won at least one point, and all but Robert Karlsson, Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington won at least one match outright.
“I don’t know if there’s ever been a European team that played better,” U.S. captain Tom Lehman said. “I don’t know if we made a mistake that they didn’t capitalize on.”
Only three American players won their singles matches Sunday – Stewart Cink (4 and 3 over Garcia), Scott Verplank (4 and 3 over Harrington) and Woods, who beat Karlsson 3 and 2. Woods had a hand in three of the Americans’ six victories and finished with three points. There were six European players who at least matched that total. Two, Garcia and Lee Westwood, finished with four points each.
“Hopefully we won’t get asked if the (PGA Tour’s minor-league) Nationwide Tour is the second-best tour in the world anymore,” said Garcia, referring to an early-week topic of conversation.
“Behind Europe?” added Donald.
As the Europeans celebrated their win on the 18th green, Woods and Furyk crouched off to the side, far away from the revelry. Just a year earlier, the duo was part of a victorious American team that beat an International squad that included top-ranked players such as Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Mike Weir, major champions all, in the Presidents Cup.
On paper, the European Ryder Cup team might not have appeared as formidable. That’s been the case for more than a decade. And more often than not, it’s still the U.S. that’s left searching for answers to another loss.
“I don’t know what’s the difference between the two,” Furyk said of the two team competitions. “I’ve said before that we’ve been tight before the Ryder Cup, that we have a different look on our faces when the gun went off than we have for the Presidents Cup.
“I don’t think that was the case this week. Everyone wants answers, but I don’t think there’s anyone on this team who can tell you what they are.”
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
