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| Sun 29-Sep-2002 16:59 (GMT) |
| Europe Wins the Ryder Cup |
SUTTON COLDFIELD, England (AP) – Sam Torrance sent out his best seven Europeans to bring home the Ryder Cup and got even more help than he imagined from his other players for a shocking victory over the Americans. At the end of a tense day, the final score was 15½ to 12½.
In a dramatic conclusion to a Ryder Cup delayed one year by the terrorist attacks, Europe won the gold trophy when Paul McGinley made a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole to earn a halve against Jim Furyk, assuring it the 14½ points it needed to claim the Cup.
The European players stormed across the green when it was over, most of them having already done their work by winning early and winning big. They gave Europe the lead and momentum that it never surrendered on a thrilling afternoon at The Belfry.
Torrance simply bowed his head and smiled. He was the hero in 1985 at The Belfry when he holed the winning putt, and he called his captaincy here the greatest moment of his life.
U.S. Captain Curtis Strange will be second-guessed for his decision to keep his best two players at the bottom of the lineup, when it was too late for them to stop the onslaught of European victories.
Not that it would have mattered.
Phil Mickelson, the No. 2 player in the world and second-to-last in the lineup, missed an 18-inch putt early in his match and was blown away by Phillip Price of Wales, ranked 119th.
Tiger Woods, suffering from a high fever, never had a chance to contribute. He was on the 17th hole when the loudest roar of the week indicated the Ryder Cup was over.
''They have all done a great job,'' Torrance said. ''This had nothing to do with me. I led them to the water, and they drank copiously.''
Torrance played a huge role for Europe. He put the precious trophy on the line by sending out his best seven players — the only Europeans who had won matches over the first two days — just as the Americans did three years ago at Brookline when they staged their great comeback.
The Europeans didn't win them all, but they won enough.
Colin Montgomerie, the Ryder Cup star who went unbeaten in all five of his matches, led the way by quickly dispatching Scott Hoch. Bernhard Langer, playing in his 10th Ryder Cup, followed with a rout of Hal Sutton.
With the matches tied at 8 going into the final day, Europe won four of the first five matches and got a halve in another.
The real surprise came at the end.
Paul Azinger added another chapter to his 18th-hole heroics at The Belfry by holing a bunker shot for birdie that gave him a halve against Ryder Cup rookie Niclas Fasth and left the Americans clinging to the slimmest of hopes.
All that ended after Jim Furyk nearly holed a shot from the same bunker moments later, and McGinley got the final half-point needed.
McGinley's teammates threw him into the lake alongside the 18th green, and he emerged with an Irish flag and a smile he won't lose anytime soon.
The celebration included one bitter incident, although it was hardly comparable to the Americans charging across the 17th green at Brookline when the matches weren't even over.
After McGinley made his putt, Sergio Garcia went running down the 18h fairway while Davis Love III and Pierre Fulke were still playing their match. Love was upset, and decided to concede the hole. He and Fulke halved.
Woods kept playing, going 1-up on the 17th when it didn't matter, then conceding a 4-foot par putt to Parnevik for another halve. That summed up the Americans' plight Sunday — one big concession.
Singles play is their strength, but this time they were no match for a European team that made more putts and played with more heart. Europe won the singles for only the sixth time in the 75-year history of the matches.
That made the final score 15½-12½, the largest margin of victory in the Ryder Cup since Europe won 16½-11½ in 1985 at The Belfry, the start of European domination. Europe now has won the trophy six of the last nine times.
Strange was testy as Europe jumped ahead in the first six matches, already sensing his lineup would come under heavy scrutiny.
''It's ridiculous to talk like that right now,'' he said after Montgomerie won the first point of the day.
It will be talked about for at least two years.
Woods' match was never a factor. Mickelson never had a chance against Price, who secured his 3-and-2 victory with a 25-foot birdie on the 16th, his fifth of the day against no bogeys. Mickelson lost for the first time in four Ryder Cup singles matches.
''They played so well all week,'' Strange said, referring to the Europeans. ''Sam snookered me out there — front-end loaded. They did what they had to do and went off and got a lot of blue on that board.''
Woods missed more short putts and was even-par for his round against Parnevik, who was considered Europe's weakest player at The Belfry.
The circumstances were different three years ago. The United States trailed 10-6, stacked the front of their lineup with its best players, and won the first six matches.
''This is what we were hoping would happen,'' Montgomerie said. ''We remember what happened at Brookline, and it feeds through the whole team.''
The crowd sensed it, too.
''Bluuuuuee,'' they shouted as the blue ''1 UP'' placard went up next to Montgomerie's name after the Scot buried a 30-foot birdie putt on the opening hole.
From the time Montgomerie teed off in the first of 12 singles matches, it took 1 hour, 21 minutes before any American led in any match. That was Scott Verplank, with a birdie on the first hole against Lee Westwood, a match he went on to win handily.
All that did was whip the European gallery into a frenzy, bursts of cheers that surrounded the Americans wherever they were on The Belfry.
David Toms and David Duval did their best to lift the Americans, and both were spectacular in coming back to earn 1½ points from the second and third positions.
Toms made a sensational birdie on the fifth hole against Sergio Garcia, electing to hit off a brick path instead of taking a drop into thick rough. He barely got to the green, then made an 80-foot putt that had to travel through 15 feet of fringe.
Toms was even better when it mattered, making three crucial putts and winning when Garcia hit his drive into the lake on the 18th.
Duval was just as gritty, even though he only earned a half-point.
He never led, but matched Darren Clarke's birdie putts on the 13th, 15th and 17th holes. After Clarke chipped to a foot on the 18th, Duval equaled his par with a 10-footer.
Europe simply had too much firepower at the top of the lineup, and the Americans weren't up to the challenge — not at the top, not in the middle, not at the bottom.
Copyright © 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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