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 Ryder Cup rundown
Posted: Monday September 27, 1999 11:55 AM
Here are a few highlights, lowlights and Bud Lights from the most exciting Ryder Cup in history: Coolest guy at the Ryder Cup : European captain Mark James. He was smart, he was funny, he was determined. Asked his best decision of the first day, he drolly replied, "I had a hamburger at lunch instead of a turkey sandwich. It was very good." Asked if he would have done anything different the final day, he joked about a bomb scare to stop the U.S. roll and get his team a few minutes of practice. American MVP : No doubt, Hal Sutton. He was the only player in the U.S. lineup who lit it up for the first two days and if he hadn't, the U.S. wouldn't have won even six points through Saturday. He was a ballstriking machine and turned his putting up two notches. Luckiest American : Mark O'Meara. It looked as if the whole Ryder Cup hinged on his singles match against Padraig Harrington. O'Meara made several incredibly clutch saves but after running in a par saver at the 17th, he inexplicably conceded Harrington's putt to halve the hole. Harrington claimed it was only an 18-incher and he certainly would have made it but it looked more like two-and-a-half feet, at least, and in that situation was no sure thing. Had Harrington missed that tap-in, O'Meara would have been guaranteed of at least halving his match and giving the U.S. the win. O'Meara lost the 18th and the match. If Justin Leonard hadn't bombed in two long putts, O'Meara might have been targeted as the goat of the event, which would have been unfortunate. European MVP : Tie, Jesper Parnevik and Colin Montgomerie . Parnevik actually played the most spectacular golf of anyone the first two days. He holed an iron shot for an eagle the first day and holed a sand wedge shot from 50 yards to save par the second day and made a ridiculous number of putts. Parnevik fell apart against David Duval in singles although Duval played so well, it probably wouldn't have mattered. "When Parnevik comes to Europe, he's a real power in the game," James said. "Even on a bad day, he's tough to beat." Monty was the clutch man all week. If he holed as many putts in U.S. Opens and PGAs as he did at The Country Club, he would have won three of each by now. Second-luckiest American: Justin Leonard. Sure, they were good putts, but to make them from that distance goes beyond skill. His big finish wiped out the memory of his dismal play of the previous two days, especially Saturday afternoon when NBC's Johnny Miller correctly noted that Leonard should have stayed home and watched the afternoon play on TV. Best resurrection : Gee, nobody has talked this much about Francis Ouimet and the sensation he caused in Boston by winning the 1913 U.S. Open since, oh, 1913. Best (and worst) souvenir : When other U.S. players celebrated the win by throwing their hats to the crowd from the clubhouse balcony, Tom Lehman pulled off his shirt and threw it into the throng. Unfortunately, it was one of those ugly designs featuring photos of past winning Ryder Cup teams. From a distance, those shirts made everyone on the U.S. team look like Steve Pate, who sports the gaudy colors of Team Tabasco. It was almost a surprise when the fan who caught the shirt didn't throw it back. Best performance by a guy who didn't get to play until Sunday: None. Now you know why James held out Jean van de Velde, Andrew Coltart and Jarmo Sandelin, although nobody could have played any worse than Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal did Saturday. Biggest crybabies: European players and media , who complained about the spontaneous celebration at the 17th green when Leonard holed that huge putt. Yes, it was poor form but everyone simply forgot Olazabal still had a putt to tie -- including several Euro writers I was talking to in the media center at the time, who said, "It's over!" after Leonard's putt because they forgot, too. Funny, I don't remember reading any stories about poor sportsmanship in 1989 at The Belfry when the Europeans were dancing all over the 18th green. The Boston fans' heckling of some Euros was far worse and inexcusable but when it comes to poor sportsmanship, European Ryder Cup galleries are the undisputed champs. You never read about that because the European media types are too busy cheering and booing right along with them. Runnerup crybabies: The American players who complained about Johnny Miller's comments. Jim Furyk was upset at being called an underdog? Ninety-nine percent of the public would have said so. Miller's comments were a reflection of that, not an analysis of Furyk's chances to win. In fact, Furyk should have been a favorite in that match. He's tough as nails and Garcia, despite all the putts he ran in, rode his partner Parnevik's coattails a bit for two days. He wasn't playing that great and proved it when Furyk dropped the hammer on him. Best choice for next U.S. Ryder Cup captain: Johnny Miller . Best candidate who has absolutely no chance of being the next captain: Johnny Miller. Best golf atmosphere: The Ryder Cup surpasses any other event. It's the only time everyone in the gallery cares about every shot hit by every player. Best way to watch the Ryder Cup: TV. You can't see anything in person. The PGA of America sells way too many tickets. Funniest line of the week : At the closing ceremonies, one official tournament type, standing with the gigantic merchandise tent in the background, hailed the Ryder cup as being "devoid of commercialism." The crowd actually laughed. Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle is a regular contributor to the magazine's Golf Plus edition. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. |
