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Home Is Where the Heartbreak Is
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY


MEDINAH, Ill. — The United States Ryder Cup team had a big lead and a big home crowd in its favor Sunday. One of the European team’s stars — Rory McIlroy — nearly missed the start of his match altogether, requiring a police escort to make it to the first tee in time.

But the Ryder Cup remains one of the most unpredictable and irresistible of sporting events. By the time the final putts had been made, missed or conceded in the fading light at Medinah Country Club, the Europeans were the ones exchanging bear hugs and swigs of Champagne as they wore their national flags as capes and celebrated their improbable 14 ½-13 ½ victory.

“Last night, when we were having our team meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing,” said José María Olazábal, the European captain, his eyes red from crying.

It was a draining afternoon, and a draining week. But it produced, depending on one’s perspective, the most remarkable comeback or collapse in the 85-year history of the Ryder Cup.

In 1999, in Brookline, Mass., the American team rallied from a 10-6 deficit at the start of the final day. On Sunday, the Europeans found themselves in the same predicament, down by 10-6 with 12 singles matches remaining.

But unlike the Americans in 1999, the Europeans had to fight back on the road, with the crowd of more than 40,000 applauding their gaffes and sometimes taunting them as they walked close to the ropes on their way from green to tee.

Olazábal was down, 10-4, late Saturday before getting two late victories in the fourball session. Those, in retrospect, changed the tone.

On Sunday, Olazábal front-loaded the European lineup in singles, in an attempt to commandeer the momentum. It worked. The Europeans won the first five matches, with victories by Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Paul Lawrie and the late-arriving McIlroy, who said he mixed up the timetable because the television coverage he was watching in the team hotel was announcing tee times in Eastern time, one hour ahead of the time here.

McIlroy arrived at Medinah only 10 minutes before his match with Keegan Bradley was scheduled to start and was unable to warm up on the driving range, settling for a few practice putts. Although he mis-hit his opening drive, he quickly settled down and defeated Bradley, a 26-year-old Ryder Cup rookie, 2 and 1.

But even with those five early and critical points, the Europeans still needed three more. At times the Americans appeared to have the requisite edge as the shadows lengthened, but their established stars ultimately cracked on too many occasions.

Singles, traditionally an American strength, turned into European territory Sunday as Olazábal’s team won the session, 8 ½-3 ½, with the only American singles victories coming from Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson and the Ryder Cup rookie Jason Dufner.

Tiger Woods, playing in the 12th and final position against Francesco Molinari, took a half-point and thus failed to win any of his four matches at Medinah.

Woods missed a short putt on the 18th green and then conceded a 3-foot putt to Molinari. But the competition had already been resolved. The Europeans have now won five of the last six editions of the Cup, with the only American victory coming in 2008 at home, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

“I’m going to second-guess myself for a long time,” the United States captain, Davis Love III, said. “Could have done a lot of things differently, but I’m proud of our team.”

Phil Mickelson, 3-0 in his partnership with Bradley on the first two days of play, had a one-hole lead with two holes remaining but lost, 1-up, to Rose, who was brilliant down the stretch. Jim Furyk, who has long struggled at the Ryder Cup, blew a one-hole lead in the final two holes to lose to Sergio García.

Furyk, 42, who was one of Love’s four captain’s picks, missed a 12-foot putt to lose the 17th hole. Then, after a long examination of the lay of the land, he missed a 6-foot putt on the 18th that would have allowed him to salvage a half-point for the United States. It was the latest psychological blow in a season brimming with them for Furyk, who also lost a lead on the closing holes of the United States Open.

The Europeans were on their way in earnest, also getting a victory from Lee Westwood over Matt Kuchar. But the man who finished off the comeback was Martin Kaymer, a former No. 1 player in the world. Kaymer is in a slump yet still had enough composure and touch to sink a 5-foot putt on the 18th hole. He defeated Steve Stricker, another of Love’s captain’s picks who faltered at Medinah.

It was a full-circle moment for Germany. In 1991 at Kiawah Island, S.C., Bernhard Langer was unable to make a short putt that would have won the Cup for Europe. But Kaymer, the second German to play in this competition, fared better.

“I got to 16 today, and José María told me, ‘We need your point, and I don’t really care how you do it; just deliver,’ ” Kaymer said. “But I like those. That’s very straightforward. That’s the way we Germans are. Fortunately I could handle it.”

Langer has been a mentor for Kaymer, 27, and Kaymer said he sought out Langer for advice on Saturday. He also said he thought about Langer’s miss in 1991 before he putted on the 18th green.

“I thought, O.K., it’s not going to happen again; it’s not going to happen again,” Kaymer said. “And to be honest with you, I didn’t really think about missing. There’s only one choice you have: you have to make it.”

Kaymer, who said he saw a footprint in his line, struggled to recall any other particulars of his Cup-clinching putt. But once the ball rolled into the cup, he raised his arms, leaving the head of his putter on the grass, and then turned and raced across the green and leapt into his teammates’ arms.

“We’re all kind of stunned,” Love said. “We were playing so well. We just figured it didn’t matter how we sent them out there.”

The 12 members of the American team kept talking up the importance of their 13th man, a reference to the large and boisterous crowd at Medinah. But the Europeans had their 13th man, too. Seve Ballesteros, a former European Ryder Cup star and captain, died last year of a brain tumor, but he had a weeklong presence. The Europeans put a silhouette of Ballesteros on their golf bags and on the sleeves of their shirts, which were blue and white Sunday in honor of Ballesteros’s preferred color combination.

“I have no doubt in my mind that he was with me today all day because there’s no chance I would have won my match if he wasn’t there,” said García, who was close to Ballesteros. “It was amazing, and it feels so good to be able to win it for him and for captain José.”

Ballesteros was Olazábal’s mentor and a fellow northern Spaniard who gave him his first big break as a teenager by inviting Olazábal to play in an exhibition. They later formed one of the most successful Ryder Cup partnerships.

“José wanted to win it for Seve,” Graeme McDowell of the European team said. “And we wanted to win it for José and Seve.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/sports/golf/europe-rallies-for-stunning-victory-at-ryder-cup.html?ref=golf&pagewanted=print