The Hindu : Sport : USA wins its first Ryder Cup in nine years

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Tuesday, Sep 23, 2008
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USA wins its first Ryder Cup in nine years

LOUISVILLE (USA): Europe came to Valhalla with the stars, the experience and arguably the hottest golfer on the planet.

The Europeans left without the Ryder Cup, thanks in part to the Big Three that turned into the Little 2 1/2.

Spaniard Sergio Garcia, England’s Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington of Ireland — who had combined for 38 1/2 points during their Cup careers —went winless at Valhalla, managing just 2 1/2 combined points during a largely lifeless performance as the U.S. won the Cup for the first time in nine years.

Garcia and Westwood had been nearly unbeatable during Europe’s run of three straight Cup wins. Yet the magic — not to mention the pressure putts — that they delivered so often this decade never showed up in front of a raucous crowd that seemed to delight in their struggles.

Westwood called out budding U.S. star Boo Weekley during the week, saying Weekley’s fist-pumping, crowd-whooping antics straddled the line of good taste. Things got particularly ugly on Sunday, when a guy dressed as a ghost jumped out and shouted “Boo” at Westwood as he was walking to the sixth tee.

Ugly turn

The man was ejected, but the heckling continued throughout the day. “All the abuse I got was fairly nasty, and that was pretty shameful,” Westwood said.

“Some people don’t know the difference between supporting their team and abusing the opposition, which is unfortunate.” Normally the nearly unflappable Westwood thrives under the crucible of the Cup, but this Cup was anything but normal for Europe.

Westwood sat out the first session of his Cup career on Saturday when European captain Nick Faldo decided to leave Westwood and frequent partner Garcia out of the morning foursomes after Garcia said he could use a break. The rest didn’t pay off with a victory.

Westwood and Soren Hansen dropped their afternoon match to Weekley and J.B. Holmes, and all Garcia and Paul Casey could manage was a half-point against Steve Stricker and Ben Curtis.

Needing a spark in singles play to jump-start a comeback, Faldo sent out Garcia first on Sunday.

It never happened against Anthony Kim, who played with the kind of fire that’s become part of Garcia’s trademark in the Cup. Kim played aggressively and never missed an opportunity to take advantage when Garcia’s play got away from him. — AP

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