Ten unforgettable Ryder Cup moments

Every two years, I think it cannot possibly outdo itself. But it nearly always does. Over the decades the Ryder Cup – by a distance golf’s most exciting event – has produced any number of unforgettable moments, both big and small. Here, in chronological order, are my ten favourites, moments and people that have helped make the biennial bunfight between Old World and New the most eagerly awaited three days on the golfing calendar.

1 JACK’S CONCESSION

Almost half a century on, it remains the definitive example of sportsmanship in the purest possible sense. Immediately after Jack Nicklaus holed his own five-foot putt on the final green at Royal Birkdale in 1969, he bent over and picked up Tony Jacklin’s coin. Had he not done so, the Englishman would have been faced with a tricky two-footer to tie the Ryder Cup matches for the first time in history.

“I don’t think you were going to miss that putt but I wasn’t going to give you the opportunity,” said the then still-burly American.

Nicklaus’s gesture was widely admired, of course. By everyone other than his non-playing captain that week, former Open champion Sam Snead, that is. Snead was apparently furious that his star player had spurned the chance to clinch yet another American victory in what was, back then, normally a routine affair.

Which just goes to show two things: a) Jack Nicklaus has life and sport firmly in perspective and b) Sam Snead was one huge point-misser.

2 LEE PRACTISING

Back in 1973, direct flights to Scotland arrived at Prestwick, which meant a cross-country drive to Muirfield for the US Ryder Cup team. Not surprisingly, most of the 12-man squad went straight to bed upon their arrival in East Lothian. Only two ventured out on to the practice range – Lee Trevino and JC Snead.

It was a dull, drizzly afternoon, but Trevino proceeded to put on an unscheduled exhibition of peerless shot-making and ball control for the small group of spectators, which included one impressionable wee 13-year-old boy. Talking constantly, the six-time major champion “called” almost every shot he hit. Fades. Draws. Hooks. Slices. High. Low. Trevino could produce them all to order.

Most impressively, he motioned to a small stick protruding from the ground maybe 100 yards from where he stood. “Watch this folks,” he said. With a wedge in his hands, he carved a massively high shot, miles in the air. It stopped within a few feet of his target. Then, with the same club, he deliberately “thinned” his next shot along the ground. Incredibly, that ball finished up even closer to the stick. Genius. And unforgettable.

3 SEVE’S SHOT

Tragically, no film footage exists of the 3-wood Seve Ballesteros struck from a fairway bunker on the 18th hole at PGA National during the 1983 Ryder Cup. It lives on in the minds of those who saw it happen, though. Jack Nicklaus called it the “greatest shot I ever saw”. And Seve’s opponent that day, former Masters and US Open champion Fuzzy Zoeller, certainly hasn’t forgotten.

“I couldn’t think what he was going to do,” recalls the American. “This was the greatest shot I’ve ever seen. Just to have the guts to hit it was amazing enough. But to pull it off was even better.

“The bunker wasn’t shallow either. This baby was maybe five feet deep. And back then no one ever thought about hitting a wood from a damned bunker. It was flat-out unbelievable. I applauded when he hit it. The man had an imagination you just don’t teach. He aimed maybe 50 yards left of the green and hit this massive slice. It finished almost green-high, maybe 30 yards from the surface. Then he got up and down – of course – and we halved the hole and the match.”

4 SEVE & OLLIE

This was a partnership made in heaven. Paired together 15 times in both foursomes and four-balls over the course of four Ryder Cups between 1987 and 1993, only twice did Ballesteros and Olazabal lose. It is a remarkable record at the highest and most competitive level of the game, one that will surely never be beaten or even equalled.

“For me, it was special,” reflects Olazabal. “I was playing with my mentor and my hero. And the partnership worked because we had the same sort of ambition. We thought the same way about everything, the shots around the greens especially. We ‘saw’ them the same way and we understood each other very well.”

So many images live on. There’s the iconic silhouette of their handshake in the gloaming at Kiawah Island in ’91. There’s the spontaneous bear hug on the 18th green at Muirfield Village four years earlier, after Ollie holed from five feet to win their match. And, underpinning every moment, a special relationship between two very special golfers.

“There were moments when Seve and I smiled or winked at each other during matches,” smiles Olazabal. “That was the way we played.”

5 BERNHARD’S PUTT

The 1991 Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island was not without incident, on and off the course. During the so-called “War on the Shore” we were treated to the sight of American golfers wearing khaki hats in “tribute” to the troops fighting the war in the Gulf. We had a car crash, one that left a player, Steve Pate, injured or not, depending upon whom you talk to. And we had opposing teams falling out over the esoteric subject of ball compression.

After three days of epic competition, however, it all came down to one six-foot putt on the last green in the last game. Needing to hole to beat Hale Irwin, tie the overall match and so retain the trophy for Europe, Bernhard Langer missed. Only just, but he missed.

There was a spike mark in his way, right on the ideal line. And the putt barely kissed the right edge of the cup as it slid past, provoking a powerful look of anguish on the face of the usually unflappable German. Many tears of celebration and regret were shed on both sides, in the week sportsmanship died.

6 JUSTIN’S PUTT

In terms of goodwill and camaraderie, the final day of the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline was a complete disaster, a shameful episode in a game rightly proud of its overall record for gentlemanly behaviour. Fuelled by alcohol, the biased Bostonian crowds “distinguished” themselves only by their xenophobic propensity for uncouth, foul-mouthed abuse. Every European player suffered, with Colin Montgomerie the biggest target.

All of which was bad enough but things got even worse when the American players decided to join in. In the immediate aftermath of Justin Leonard holing from 40 feet for birdie across the penultimate green, a disturbing number of the US side stampeded over the putting surface in celebration.

That would have been fine – maybe – had Leonard’s putt been to clinch his match and the trophy. But it wasn’t. As the Americans whooped and hollered and carried on, Jose Maria Olazabal stood patiently waiting to putt. Needless to say, he (eventually) missed and Europe’s defeat was finally official. Sadly, however, more than a game of golf was lost that day, with dignity top of the list.

7 MONTY’S MAGNIFICENCE

Colin Montgomerie played five matches in the 2002 Ryder Cup at The Belfry and not once did he lose. Which is impressive enough. But more than that, in none of those games – three in tandem with Bernhard Langer, one with Padraig Harrington – was he even one hole down at any point. It was, surely, the most sustained display of excellence ever by anyone on either side in the biennial contest.

“Monty was amazing that week,” confirms Denis Pugh, the Scot’s coach at the time. “He played the way we all wanted to see him play in majors, his putting much more aggressive than normal. He made just about everything in a week where his back was killing him. I had to laugh really. Before each game his warm-up sessions were horrific, some of the worst ball-striking I ever saw.”

Off the course, Monty was just as important to Europe’s cause. Captain Sam Torrance did a superb job, massaging his compatriot’s already massive ego so that he took on the role of unofficial “team leader” with typical gusto and enthusiasm. All in all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime performance from one of the truly great Ryder Cup players.

8 TIGER & PHIL

It will go down as one of the most misguided and, yes, boneheaded Ryder Cup decisions of all time. In 2004 at Oakland Hills, American skipper Hal Sutton opted to pair the two best players in his side, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, for reasons that started out more than a little dubious and have remained so ever since.

It didn’t work, of course. Never the best of pals, the not-so-dynamic duo were more Dastardly and Muttley than Batman and Robin. Twice they played together, twice they lost. Most memorably, Mickelson carved his tee-shot off the 18th tee miles left of the fairway. As television showed the ball hard against the boundary fence in an all-but unplayable position, the cameras flashed back to Woods, standing by the tee. His expression never changed – not even a little bit – but it wasn’t difficult to imagine what was going through his head.

9 DARREN’S BRAVERY

Less than six weeks before, his wife, after a long and brave battle, had succumbed to the ravages of breast cancer. But Darren Clarke wanted to play in the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club, the first to be held in his native Ireland. Heather would have wanted him to play too. So he did.

Many things in life are labelled “unforgettable,” but the scene as Clarke marched to the first tee on the opening day was truly that. Not to be profoundly moved by the loud and sustained reception he received was not to be a member of the human race. It is hard to imagine there were many dry eyes about.

Not only that, Clarke, after acknowledging the cheers, stood up and “melted” his drive miles down the middle. His approach finished only a few feet from the cup and he made the putt for birdie. Only two days later, after winning all three of his matches in a record-equalling European victory, did he break down in tears. No wonder.

10 NICK’S INEPTITUDE

Nick Faldo was a great Ryder Cup player and he remains the record points scorer for the European team. But he was a rotten captain. In fact, to describe him as merely “rotten” is to insult rotten captains everywhere. He was much worse than that.

One of Faldo’s little helpers at Valhalla in 2008 was a disc jockey. Another was his teenage son. Indeed, most of Faldo’s week was spent driving his children around in a buggy.

Which brings us to the speeches. The opening ceremony was excruciating. Faldo managed to a) forget the name of one team member, b) forget where another actually hails from and c) introduce what seemed like every member of his family (including his ex-wife) to the worldwide audience. Watching on television in his hotel room, a journalist screamed at the screen: “Make him stop, make him stop!”

He wasn’t finished though. After presiding over the worst European defeat since 1981, Faldo endeared himself to the Welsh Tourist Board when, at the closing ceremony, he advised everyone to “bring your waterproofs” two years hence at Celtic Manor. Which, come to think of it, was just about the only thing he got right all week.