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Articles
The
2010 Ryder Cup Celtic
Manor Twenty Ten Course Friday 1st October – Sunday 3rd October 2010 and
because of the weather - Monday 4th
October Situated
in the beautiful Usk Valley close to Newport in South Wales, the Twenty
Ten was
the first course to be built specifically for golf's greatest team
tournament. It measures a robust 7,493
yards off the back
tees and has a par of 71. You and I can
play there, like all the great golf venues, but for a round of golf on
any
Friday to Sunday during July to October this year, we would have got
hardly any
change from £200, but if we were prepared to venture out in
December, then that
drops down to £90. A bargain
I’m sure,
as I’ll bet there will be plenty of days in December, a good deal
nicer than
many that we have had this summer! So, here
are the teams – (CP) means Captain’s Pick and (R) means
Rookie. The USA Team captained by Corey Pavin: Stewart Cink (CP), Rickie
Fowler (R CP), Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson (R), Zach
Johnson (CP), Matt Kuchar
(R), Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson,
Jeff Overton (R), Steve
Stricker, Bubba Watson (R), Tiger
Woods (CP). The European Team captained by Colin Montgomerie: Luke
Donald (CP), Ross Fisher
(R), Peter Hanson (R), Padraig
Harrington (CP), Miguel
Angel Jiminez, Martin Kaymer (R), Graeme
McDowell, Rory McIlroy (R), Edoardo
Molinari (R CP), Francesco
Molinari (R), Ian
Poulter, Lee Westwood. Day
1 Friday. Session 1 Morning Fourball Matches
European Names first :
Match
1 L
Westwood/ M Kaymer
V
P Mickelson/ D Johnson Match
2 R McIlroy/ G McDowell
V
S Cink/ M Kuchar
USA 2 up after 11 holes Match
3 I Poulter/
R Fisher
V
S Stricker/ T Woods
Match
4 L Donald/
P Harrington V B
Watson/ J Overton
The
first match started at 7.45am under dark clouds and driving rain, but
by 9.42am
the course was declared unplayable, the Europeans racing out of the
blocks and
ahead in 3 of the 4 matches. And it
rained and it rained.....7 hours later, at 5pm, the players were out
again, the
USA team having had to buy a new set of waterproofs from the ProQuip
stand, as
their official suits were just not up to it! Their
golf was however, and the break obviously did them good as they then
proceeded
to claw back the lead over the next 2 hours and by the end of the day
were
ahead by 2 ½ to 1½ but all matches were well behind
schedule. The afternoon was supposed to
have had 4 Foursome
matches and such was the backlog of games that it was decided that the
play on
Saturday would consist of 6 foursome matches and then 2 foursome and 4
fourball matches. Montgomery then made the inspired choice of drafting
in Jose Maria Olazabal as a fifth vice captain - who happened to
be at the venue as a hospitality guest - so that each of the 6 matches
could be monitored and encouraged by a team vice captain.
Monday, for the
first time ever, would consist of 12 single matches. Day 2 Saturday.
Completion of session 1 The
longest day in Ryder Cup history, and the first fourball
matches were completed. Westwood & Kaymer 3&2
bt Mickelson
& D Johnson
McIlroy & McDowell A/S Cink &
Kuchar
Poulter & Fisher
lost
to Stricker
& Woods 2up
Donald & Harrington lost to
Watson &
Overton 3&2
Result Fourballs EUR 1 ½
USA 2 ½ Saturday Session 2 Foursome matches. E Molinari & F
Molinari lost
to Z
Johnson & Mahan 2up
Westwood & Kaymer A/S Furyk
& Fowler Harrington &
Fisher 3&2
bt Mickelson
& Johnson
Jiminez & Hanson lost
to Woods
& Stricker 4&3
Poulter & Donald 2&1
bt Watson
& Overton
McDowell & McIlroy lost to
Cink & Kuchar 1up
Result Foursomes EUR 2 ½
USA 3 ½ OVERALL:
EUR 4
USA 6 Saturday Session 3 Foursome matches
– not completed Donald & Westwood 4up
V Stricker
& Woods after
9 holes McDowell & McIlroy 3up
V Z
Johnson & Mahan after
7 holes Fourball matches
– not completed Harrington & Fisher 1up
V Furyk
& D Johnson after
7 holes Hanson & Jiminez 2up
V Watson
& Overton after
6 holes E Molinari & F
Molinari
1up V
Cink & Kuchar after 5 holes Poulter & Kaymer
2up V
Mickelson & Fowler
after
4 holes An
extraordinary day. 10 matches completed, with USA ahead by 6 to 4 and a
further
6 matches being played and to be completed on Sunday.
What a
fight back by the European team....Obviously Monty had words with the
boys and
got the passion flowing! Sunday, which
should be the final day of singles matches, will now clean up the
fourball and
foursome matches and Monday will be the final day.
The weather forecast is not too bad and it
was good to see some Welsh sunshine doing justice to the magnificent
Celtic
Manor course. Day 3
Sunday.
Session 3 completion With 2
points to make up it was essential Europe didn’t fold but nobody
surely, would
have predicted the total European dominance of this session. It was fairytale and instead of a final day
tally of 8 points each that Monty had wished for, the team played their
hearts
out and finished the day winning 5 and halving 1 to go into the lead
for the
first time in this series at Foursome matches Donald & Westwood 6&5
bt Stricker
& Woods
McDowell & McIlroy 3&1
bt Z
Johnson & Mahan
Fourball matches Harrington & Fisher 2&1
bt Furyk
& D Johnson
Hanson & Jiminez 2up bt
Watson & Overton
E Molinari & F
Molinari A/S
Cink
& Kuchar
Poulter & Kaymer
2&1 bt
Mickelson
& Fowler Result
EUR 5
½
USA ½
OVERALL: EUR 9
½ USA 6 ½
Day4
Monday
4th October Session
4 The Singles Sunday
was the kind of result you all dream about for your team –
unfortunately this
year there is also a Monday to worry about! From
2 points down to 3 ahead and requiring
just 5 points from the final day’s singles, surely it’s
game over?! Don’t ever believe it! Remember 1999? Just
4 points needed by the European team and
they couldn’t do it – just 3 ½ were achieved.
This is going to be a nail biting day... With
Westwood out at the top against Steve Stricker, it started looking
great with
an early lead for Europe. But playing
his last nine holes in a brilliant 5 under, it was Stricker who took
first
blood. And with Kaymer struggling
against Dustin Johnson, by early afternoon the 3 point advantage was
down to 1
and there were a lot of games being played behind with the advantage
more in
the USA favour than Europe’s. The
matches ebbed and flowed but with Edoardo Molinari going to 4 up
against Ricky
Fowler and the European banker, Graeme McDowell well in command against
Hunter
Mahan. But as we all know, you can never
be complacent at any stage whilst playing golf.
As the
afternoon was drawing to a close it looked as if the Europeans were
going to
get in with 1 or two points to spare, but both Fowler and Mahan had
other
ideas. At dormie 3 up, Molineri was sure
to get 1 of the 1 ½ points needed and behind him McDowell was in
command – but
was he? Suddenly from 3 up he was only 1
up with 3 to play and Molinari was being blitzed by an incredible run
in by
Fowler. The 1 certain point a few
minutes ago looked not so certain and what if McDowell who earlier had
been
very much in charge lost another hole – that would be all square
and a
nightmare finish on the cards for the European boys. Fowler
had 3 birdies from the 14th and he saved his 4th
for the
18th – a brilliant 20 footer.
From dead and buried he had squared his match and poor
Molinari looked
devastated. So it
was down to the US Open Champion from Northern Ireland, Graeme McDowell. And having been 3 up just a few holes
earlier, a win at the 12th and 15th by Mahan had
reduced
this to just 1up. What must have been
going through his mind? He needed to win
this game, a half would be no good. At the
16th after a great drive, McDowell hit “the best shot
I have ever
played” to 15 feet. With nerves of
steel
he then holed the putt “the best I’ve sunk in my entire
career”, to put himself
in a no lose situation, but as far as the Ryder Cup was concerned, that
could
still be lost. He had to win this match;
a half would leave the Cup in American hands. “Going
down the 17th was 50 times more pressure (than the US Open)
because
I had the responsibility of everybody on my shoulders”. He didn’t let anyone down and poor
Hunter
Mahan played a miserable 17th and conceded McDowell’s
putt for the
par 3,which was by no means dead. So
finally the longest Ryder Cup came to an end and by the narrowest of
margins,
the Europeans just managed to wrestle it out of USA hands. What an
incredible 4 days it has been. The
Captains, the players on both teams, their wives and girl friends, the
Celtic
Manor staff, the Course itself, the vociferous, humorous and good
natured fans,
all have made this a fantastic sporting occasion, played with such
great
passion and good sportsmanship. It makes
the game of golf exactly what it is – the greatest game ever. Well
done Corey, you captained a team of great sportsmen who very nearly
broke our
hearts! To Colin
- absolute perfection!
You were a great Captain and deserve all the
plaudits for producing an inspired and wonderful team.
And what a wonderful gesture to dedicate this
win to Seve Ballesteros who has done so much in the past to bring
together a
European team that blends together as if from one single country. Singles Result L
Westwood lost to S
Stricker 2&1 R McIlroy halved
S Cink L Donald beat
J
Furyk 1 hole M Kaymer lost to D Johnson 6&4 I Poulter beat
M Kuchar 5&4 R Fisher lost to
J Overton 3&2
MA Jimenez beat
B Watson 4&3
F
Molinari lost to
T Woods 4&3
E Molinari halved
R Fowler P Hanson lost to
P
Mickelson 4&2 P
Harrington
lost to
Z
Johnson 3&2 G McDowell beat
H
Mahan 3&1 Result Eur 5
USA 7
OVERALL: EUROPE 14
½
USA 13 ½ Article
by Martin Dawson www.effortless-golf-swing.com Fix your golf slice - improve your putting - which is the right golf ball for your game. |
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