Well worth the wait
As neither a European nor an American, I have had absolutely no rooting interest in the Ryder Cup. There are more than a few golfers on either side whom I follow closely during the season, but in the past, I have watched the Cups to witness some good golf.
The 34th Ryder Cup didn't disappoint. Although the dramatic comeback by the Americans on Sunday at Brookline at the previous Cup remains the greatest golf performance I have ever seen, the quality of golf last weekend came pretty darn close.
After first two days of the team matches, the two sides were as even as the score 8-8 suggested. Europeans overall putted much better than the Americans, who couldn't seem to gauge the speed of the slow greens at the Belfry, but the talent level of the U.S. team came through on Saturday afternoon, when it won two four-ball matches and halved another.
European captain Sam Torrance then rolled out his singles line up-'front-loading,' as it was dubbed-featuring his top guns like Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington in early matches in his attempt to gain early momentum.
Coincidentally, American skip Curtis Strange went the opposite route, saving the best for last. Tiger Woods was the anchor with Phil Mickelson being the second last. Davis Love III, 3-1 in Ryder Cup singles, was the third last, and Jim Furyk, who beat Nick Faldo and Garcia in his first two Cup singles, rounded out the strong American quartet.
Europe edged the U.S. Sunday, but to say Strange was outmanoeuvred would be to rely on hindsight, always 20-20.
Torrance's so-called front-loading could easily have backfired, and on paper, of the first six matches, David Toms, David Duval, Stewart Cink and Mark Calcavecchia were more than capable of defeating Garcia, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn and Harrington, respectively.
As long as the U.S. could pick up a few points in the early going, Strange's strategy would work beautifully. After all, with the Ryder Cup on the line, there is no other tandem any captain would rather have than Woods and Mickelson. Curtis' gamble was that the last two, three matches might not matter if Europe garnered 6 ½ points it needed before any of his top dogs teed off.
Of course, Sam had also gambled. What if his best players would lose to America's lesser players? Then the rest of European squad would be discouraged and likely be pounded by the opposition's top guns.
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