Europe cling on to reclaim Ryder Cup

The singles were carried over to the Monday on account of the weather, but it did not spoil the spectacle as hordes of spectators turned out to watch McDowell clinch the win. After four days of drama, the Ryder Cup boiled down to the final singles contest between McDowell and Mahan and the Ulsterman held his nerve to close out the match on 17 to hand the Ryder Cup to captain Colin Montgomerie.

McDowell started in fabulous fashion with a textbook birdie on the first and he continued the charge with further birdies at four and six. Mahan got a hole back on nine, but it was not until the 15th that he made his first birdie. The American strode on to the 16th tee one behind but found the thick rough and it ultimately cost him as McDowell stroked in a glorious downhill putt for a birdie and a dormie-two position and he sealed the win, and a sixth Ryder Cup in eight attempts for Europe, when Mahan failed to make par on 17.

That it boiled down to the final singles match is credit to Corey Pavin's players as they produced a spirited fightback having entered the day trailing by three points.

Steve Stricker set the tone for USA by taking out Lee Westwood and further wins from his big players Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods raised hope of the comeback. Rickie Fowler produced one of the great Ryder Cup turnarounds to snatch a half on 18, but McDowell kept his composure as Mahan threatened a similar comeback to bring the cup back into the hands of Europe.

Westwood has been Europe's talisman this week and was sent out first by Montgomerie. He made a superb start, looked solid for much of the match, only to fall to pieces on the back nine. Westwood made the turn at one up thanks to a 34 but he could not cope with the consistency of Stricker. The American took every shot Westwood threw at him on the front nine and did not flinch once. His chance came on 12 when Westwood found the rough with his tee shot. The American rifled a long iron to three feet for his birdie to level the contest. The setback seemed to rattle Westwood as he chucked his tee shot on 13 into the water to hand another hole to the American and victory was wrapped up on 17.

Ian Poulter, who was unbeaten at Valhalla two years ago, puffed out his chest and guaranteed a point and he delivered with a demolition job on Matt Kuchar. The American came into the match unbeaten in his pairs matches, but Poulter was at his sizzling, bristling best. Birdies at three and five set the ball rolling and he knocked the stuffing out of Kuchar when chipping in for eagle on 11. Further birdies followed on 13 and 14 for a 5&4 win.

Dustin Johnson was pointless heading into the singles, having lost all three of his matches, but he caught fire in stunning style to take out Martin Kaymer. The German never recovered from a wild approach that cost him the first. He did not play well, but credit must go to Johnson who won holes 10 to 14 to secure a 6&4 win.

 Luke Donald and Jim Furyk traded blows all the way round the course and it was the Brit's putting that won the day. Donald more than justified his wildcard selection as excellent birdie putts on three, five and six put the FedEx champion to the sword. Furyk plotted his way round the course in copybook fashion and kept chipping away down the back nine to force the match to the 18th, but he found sand with his approach to hand Donald the point.

Tiger Woods was sent out at No. 8 by Corey Pavin. If anyone thought he was running scared they were given ammunition as he lost the first two holes to Francesco Molinari. However, he caught fire at the turn with a birdie at ten and followed that by chipping in for eagle at 11. Further birdies followed at 12 and 13 as Molinari was blown out of the water.

Rory McIlroy's Ryder Cup singles debut was one he will never forget, as he claimed a vital half against Stewart Cink. The Ulsterman was not at his best as the pair traded holes through the front nine. He showed his class on 12 when firing a nine iron to six inches, but promptly threw his tee shot on 13 into the water to hand the initiative back to Cink. The pair went down 18 all square; it is a hole that was not kind to McIlroy in practice and it looked like biting him again when he left his bunker shot in the sand, but he showed nerves of steel to get up and down to claim a half.

Ross Fisher imploded on the back nine, as a run of three successive bogeys allowed Jeff Overton to come back from two down to secure a 3&2 win.

Miguel Angel Jimenez has had a proud Ryder Cup career, but had to wait until the age of 46 to secure his first win in singles. But he did it in fine style with a thumping 4&3 win over Bubba Watson.

There were big wins down the order for Mickelson over Peter Hanson and Zach Johnson over a woefully out of sorts Padraig Harrington. It did not look as though it would be enough, but Fowler battled back from four down at one stage; birdies at 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18 saw him rip victory from the grasp of Edoardo Molinari.

Montgomerie talked long and hard about momentum, but in the end it came down to his last man standing to stem the tide as McDowell beat back the challenge of Mahan to clinch victory.
 

Source: espn.co.uk