Seize the moment, grab the opportunity with both hands, cometh the moment cometh the man, we could go on and on, but sometimes actions speak louder than words and one man seemed to do this better than anyone, Luke Donald, the victorious Captain of the European Ryder Cup Team.
What a triumph, for all concerned, the Organising Committee from the DP World Tour, the Italian Federation, all at Marco Simone and of course the fans without whom this titanic bi-yearly battle would not be the same. But mainly what a triumph for Luke and his merry band of men, all twelve of them, to a man they all played their part in a tremendous team effort.
The Captain cant hit the shots, but they can set the tone, in fact they must, and Luke did this with aplomb. From the moment he stood on stage at the opening ceremony serenading his Italian friends with a word perfect opening in Italian he had them in the palm of his hand.
If nothing else it showed his team that the Captain was ready, prepared and a man with a plan, a powerful combination for anyone, but deadly for a man that rose to the pinnacle of his chosen career.
I was lucky to be commentating in Italy so I had a front row seat as well as being able to soak up some of the atmosphere and my take aways are thus.
Firstly the Ryder Cup format is absolute genius, enough golf over the first to days for us to go hard on why one team is taking a hammering, whilst simultaneously knowing that if a couple of putts go the other way on Sunday that pummelling could turn into a redemption story in the blink of lip out.
Europe’s new look team looked all the better for being exactly that, a fresh new team, with a piece of golfing legacy within their grasp, they looked excited by the prospect of adding their names to the storied list of European legends that had come before. It is something Europe does better than the Americans for some reason, wanting to be part of Ryder Cup history, to follow in Seve’s footsteps, or Sergio’s, Westwood’s or Poulter’s for that matter.
Luke’s picks for his back room team hit the spot perfectly, and the team looked supported without being burdened by superstars on the sidelines, the perfect mix of experience and youth to cheer them on, well if you can call Nicolas Colsaerts as youthful that is.
The course played a starring role in proceedings too, the 16th played a huge role, our very own golfing colosseum was formed and boy did players from both sides put on a show at the 16th. If you didn’t chip in on 16 then you weren’t really trying it seemed.
Ultimately however it was the way Europe started that made the difference, and the hottest man in world golf led the way. Hovland, the smiling assassin, the man who’s short game has gone from the outhouse to the penthouse pummelled a drive up the first fairway.
His partner, the young swede Åberg, who was burdened by homework assignments just a few months ago, leaked a 7 iron a tad to the right, into the trickiest of positions. A year ago an up and over putt would have been the play from Hovland but this is a new Viktor, a man with a FedEx Cup to his name.
This Viktor clipped a chip from the green with such assurance that his partners heart rate would have been calming by the beat, that is until this most sublime shot found the bottom of the cup, blue on the board, heart rates up, Lowry, 465 yards away on the tee pushing the air with gusto normally reserved for Major wins.
That moment, that very first chip was the moment Europe took the ascendancy and they never let it go. A Friday morning whitewash ensued, a magical start banishing the ghost of Whistling Straits immediately. Højgaard joined the party with a monster putt on his opening hole. MacIntyre, who looked at his must uncomfortable in the build up, calmed himself next to an imperious Justin Rose before sealing an unbeaten record on Sunday against the US Open Champion Wyndham Clark.
Lowry the cheerleader got points, Rahm turned into Seve, Rose became Langer, Rory played like the Major winning Rory we once knew, simply put there was no weak link, it truly was an incredible performance.
Hatton, coming off a lacklustre record played like a star, complimenting Fleetwood who flushed it all week long.
In the end the final moment was Tommy’s, a drive so pure into the heart of the 16th green that Americas wonderful fightback came to a shuddering halt, and that is how close it was. Had Fowler found that swing at that moment this column might look very different, but he didn’t, and Tommy did and that is what Ryder Cup golf is all about.
In the grand scheme of Ryder Cup history I think this match deserves a high placing, last day drama, opening day heroics, crowd interaction with hat gate all added to the event, and in the end I think Samuel Ryder will have been pleased, cross Atlantic friendships ultimately strengthened, but through fierce competition. (I don’t know Mr Ryder’s views on caddy player interactions so best left unsaid on that front!) And the right man lifted the trophy aloft, Luke Donald, former World Number One, Ryder Cup winning captain, leader of men.
