RYDER CUP DEBATE
The contentious competition always delivers BY DREW POWELL The Seven Most Iconic Ryder Cup Moments 1. Justin Leonard’s “clinching” putt at The Country Club Leonard’s 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole in 1999 ( right ) to all but clinch the cup for the US team could very well be on the podium of the greatest putts in history. After the chaos and celebra- tion, Jose Maria Olazabal still had a birdie putt to keep Europe’s hopes alive. It missed, securing Leonard and the US the half point it needed to complete the historic comeback. 2. Ian Poulter’s heroics at Medinah There is likely no “Miracle at Medinah,” when Europe overcame a 10-6 deficit on Sunday to win the 2012 Ryder Cup, without Poulter’s five consecutive bird- ies to close Saturday’s four-ball session. Poulter’s double fist pumps and viscer- al stares signalled this US blowout-to- be was destined for another outcome. 3. The Concession at Royal Birkdale Tensions between the teams were high all week in the 1969 Ryder Cup until Jack Nicklaus conceded Tony Jacklin’s two-foot par putt on the final hole to end the Ryder Cup in a tie. Nicklaus told Jacklin, “I don’t think you would have missed it, but I wasn’t going to give you the chance, either.” 4. The US press conference callout at Gleneagles The most drama during Europe’s rout of the Americans in 2014 came not on the course but in the post-match press conference, when Phil Mickelson open- ly rebuked captain Tom Watson’s lead- ership and called for a return to 2008 captain Paul Azinger’s style.
5. Seve Ballesteros’ greatest shot you’ve never seen at PGA National The pivotal first match on Sunday in 1983 at PGA National between Balleste- ros and Fuzzy Zoeller came to the 18th hole tied. Ballesteros snap-hooked his drive and hacked his second into a fair- way bunker 245 yards from the hole. With the ball tucked under the lip, playing to a narrow green guarded by water, Ballesteros took 3-wood and mi- raculously curved it onto the fringe, sal- vaging a tie in the match. Jack Nicklaus, captain of the US team, called it “the greatest shot I ever saw.” Unfortunately for the rest of us, it happened before the broadcast went on air. 6. Patrick Reed’s finger wag at Hazeltine The tension between Rory McIlroy and the American crowd at Hazeltine Na- tional in 2016 was brewing all week, set- ting the stage for a Sunday duel with the gregarious Reed. The two traded birdies with the back-and-forth peaking on the
eighth, where McIlroy holed a 40-footer for birdie and screamed “I can’t hear you” to the silent crowd. Reed matched with a 20-footer to tie the hole, wagged his finger at McIlroy and eventually closed out the match to cement his title as “Captain America.” 7. Bernhard Langer’s short miss at Kiawah Island The animosity between the teams in the modern Ryder Cup can be traced to the late ’80s and peaked in 1991 with “The War by the Shore.” The feud be- tween Ballesteros and the US team, notably Paul Azinger, intensified. The fans acted as if they were enlisted in the battle. Hale Irwin, playing in the deciding match against Langer, pulled his drive 40 yards left at the last, only to miraculously (and suspiciously) find his ball next to the fairway. But it was Langer’s six-foot putt to win the singles match and retain the cup for Europe that is most remembered. It missed, and the Americans won the war.
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