While Europe retained the Ryder Cup in some style, it was individual comebacks in crucial games that really sealed the deal for McGinley’s men.
No matter what way you slice it, the best team won. On paper Europe’s team looked stronger and so it proved on the greens of Gleaneagles over three sensational days of golf.
The final margin, five points, looks decisive but the match hinged on a couple of crucial games, games where a European player battled back to claim a point or a half, maintaining their team’s momentum and killing the other’s. Tom Watson’s team never managed to do that after Friday morning, and that was the real key to the win.
The first big swing to Europe came in the Friday afternoon foursomes. Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell led from the start in their match while the pairings of Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson and Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood were also always in control. The only bright spark on the horizon for the US was Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler leading Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia.
After taking the lead at 11, the US pair were 2Up with just two holes to play. That is when the match turned. First McIlory drained this huge putt on 17 for a birdie to halve the deficit.
Now rattled, Fowler found a greenside bunker with his shot while Garcia drilled a shot to set up a chance for eagle to McIlroy. The US could only par the hole, meaning the European’s conceded birdie had halved the match.
Not only did it leave the score overnight 5-3, rather than 4.5-3.5, it also sent the European team home after Day 1 with a spring in their step, a spring they would never lose.
On Saturday the US started well again, winning two of the fourballs but it was another moment of magic, this time by Ian Poulter, that swung the momentum Europe’s way. Playing with McIlroy, and being one down with just four to play, the Englishman did this for a birdie deny what looked like a certain two-hole lead to their opponents.
Poulter would birdie the next hole to level the match and another halfpoint was added to the European total, denying the US the chance to level the match at 6-6.
In the afternoon, another last gasp bit of mental fatigue denied the US a crumb of comfort in the foursomes. Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed were the stars of the US team and a brilliant birdie on 17 had them 1Up with one to play against Martin Kaymer and Justin Rose. But Spieth fluffed his putt and Rose duly birdied to snatch another massive half for Europe.
And so to Sunday, where the US needed to start fast to pull off a Medinah-style comeback. It looked like the might, as McDowell, in the opening match, trailed by three holes at the turn and Rose, out fourth, trailed by four after just six holes. But a run of five birdies in six back-nine holes saw McDowell storm back to win 2 & 1 and Rose was magnificent too, also nabbing five birdies in six holes, plus one on the last, to steal a half from Hunter Mahan.
Those two comebacks killed off any chance the US had of a miracle in the singles. In an event so dependent on individuals winning individual battles, every time it was Europe who showed their mettle.
Sure they had the home advantage but the fight shown by the European players in those matches highlighted above was the key to the overall success of the team. The US appeared to wilt when the going got tough, the European team just got better.
They showed that while there may be little in it when it came to talent, reserves of mental strength were deeper in the European camp. That was ultimately the difference, and the winning of the 2014 Ryder Cup.
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