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Rampant Europe surge to emphatic victory
2006-09-24
Europe retained the Ryder Cup in emphatic style on Sunday, beating the United States by a record-equaling 18-1/2 points to 9-1/2 at the K Club to claim the trophy for a third successive time. Swedish rookie Henrik Stenson had the honor of clinching the point that guaranteed victory before the Europeans ended a memorable week with their best-ever performance in the last-day singles, winning eight of the 12 matches and halving one. They also became the first team in Cup history to win all five sessions of play since the format was trimmed from six for the 1981 matches at Walton Heath in England. Shortly before Stenson's moment in the spotlight, British duo David Howell and Luke Donald had posted quick-fire wins to lift the hosts to an unassailable tally of 14 points. "I just can't say enough about my team," Europe's captain Ian Woosnam told reporters after his team matched the record winning margin over the U.S. at Oakland Hills two years ago. "They have played fantastic. I've got to say this is the proudest moment of my life." Colin Montgomerie, competing in his eighth Ryder Cup, added: "I'm very proud to be part of the 12 yet again, and to equal the record score at Oakland Hills. "We never thought that would be possible again for many, many years and we've done it again the next time." GLOWING TRIBUTE U.S. captain Tom Lehman paid a glowing tribute to Woosnam's players: "I need to tip my hat completely to the European team. They played incredibly well, they were inspired. "I just don't know if there has ever been a European team that has played better." After winning all four pairs sessions, Europe went into the last-day singles 10-6 ahead, needing only four more points to deny the Americans a first Cup success since 1999. Montgomerie extended his remarkable unbeaten record in singles to eight -- six wins and two halves -- by beating David Toms one up in the first match before fellow Briton Paul Casey defeated world number three Jim Furyk 2 & 1. Although Stewart Cink and Tiger Woods notched early points for the Americans, the scoreboard was predominantly blue. Howell, who chipped in for a birdie three at the 11th before sinking 25-footers on 12 and 13, outclassed U.S. rookie Brett Wetterich 5 & 4 minutes before Donald produced a late surge to beat Chad Campbell 2 & 1. That left Stenson, who had trailed by one after five holes, to produce a 4 & 3 comeback win over Vaughn Taylor and spark widespread celebrations. The cheering increased, along with a few tears, when Darren Clarke triumphed 3 & 2 against Zach Johnson, capping a week of high emotion following the death last month of his wife Heather after a long battle with cancer. TEARFUL CLARKE "This is just as good as it gets for the Europeans, and for the Irish it's just fantastic," said a tearful Clarke. "This is my fifth Ryder Cup and I can't remember an occasion before where we had 12 guys playing so well. Montgomerie drew first blood for the holders to join Bernhard Langer in second place with 24 points in the all-time European Cup standings, behind only Nick Faldo (25). The talismanic Scot birdied the third and fourth, was pegged back at the fifth but regained his two-shot cushion with a birdie two at the 14th where he struck a three-iron to five feet. Toms cut the deficit by sinking an 18-foot birdie putt at the 17th before the Scot got up and down from a bunker at the last to set the Europeans up for the rest of the day. Moments earlier, an inspired Cink put paid to Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who had won his four previous matches this week. With his approach play in sparkling order, Cink birdied the first, second, fourth and fifth to take early charge en route to a 4 & 3 success. Woods finished the week as the leading U.S. scorer after beating Swede Robert Karlsson 3 & 2 but there was to be only one more American win when Scott Verplank, boosted by a hole in one, beat Padraig Harrington 4 & 3 in the last match out. Casey, fired by four early birdies in match three, won 2 & 1 against world number two Jim Furyk, who had not lost in his previous four singles encounters. Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, back at the Ryder Cup for the first time in seven years, made it three wins out of three over the weekend when he beat Phil Mickelson 2 & 1 as the world number three's woeful Ryder Cup record continued. Wildcard Lee Westwood, five up with seven holes to play, survived a late surge by Chris DiMarco before completing a two-hole victory, ending the week unbeaten and alongside Garcia as joint top-scorer on four points.
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 Furyk ends win drought by taking Tiger's tournament (2009-12-06) | | Woods withdraws from tourney, citing injuries (2009-11-30) | | Montgomerie hails Tiger's fantastic Presidents Cup feat (2009-10-12) | | Golf, rugby make Olympic roster for 2016, 2020 (2009-10-09) | | O'Hair takes 1-shot lead over Woods, others (2009-09-25) | | Woods cruises to eight-stroke win at BMW (2009-09-13) | | South Africa's Goosen shares crowded leaderboard at Boston event (2009-09-07) | | Yang topples Tiger in the PGA (2009-08-16) | | Tiger claws out 2-shot lead at wind-whipped PGA (2009-08-15) | | Woods builds a 4-shot lead in the PGA (2009-08-15) | | Tiger rallies to win at Firestone (2009-08-09) | | Barnes: record score on pushover US Open course (2009-06-20) | | Cabrera wins 2nd major title in Masters playoff (2009-04-12) | | Cabrera wins 2nd major title in Masters playoff (2009-04-12) | | Cabrera, Perry tied for lead; no sign of Tiger (2009-04-11) | | No record, but Campbell grabs Masters lead with 65 (2009-04-09) | | PGA Tour still waiting for a dramatic end of year (2008-09-25) | | Kim gets US a crucial point at Ryder Cup (2008-09-21) | | Americans try to hold big lead at Ryder Cup (2008-09-20) | | Faldo puts Westwood, Garcia on the bench (2008-09-20) | | Padraig Harrington wins PGA for 2nd straight major (2008-08-10) | | Harrington wins British Open, ends Norman's dream (2008-07-20) | | Norman in familiar spot at major, if it was 1996 (2008-07-19) | | Breezy day at the British Open (2008-07-19) | | Woods fires 68, 1 shot behind Appleby at US Open (2008-06-14) |
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