Monty basks in glory, Pavin draws praise
Source: Agencies |
October 6, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
COLIN Montgomerie has been hailed as captain fantastic for leading Europe to a one-point victory in the Ryder Cup but Corey Pavin can also walk with his head held high after going close to conjuring up a stunning comeback win.
In public, the two captains could not have been more different. Montgomerie talked to anyone who would listen and was relentlessly bullish about the quality of his players and their chances of success at Celtic Manor in Newport.
Pavin, known as one of the more volatile players on the US Tour, reined himself in to offer a calm, relaxed exterior, insisting throughout that it was all about the players and that he was just in Wales to have fun.
Inside though, a fire was raging and in the US team room Pavin was closer to an agitated persona than the new emotion-lite version.
Twice delayed by rain and shorn by the changed format of being able to rest players after the opening fourballs, the captains were left to be judged on their wildcards, their pairings, their running order and the intangible "gel" factor.
Ian Poulter certainly delivered, as Europe's joint-top scorer with three points alongside Luke Donald, but Edoardo Molinari and Padraig Harrington struggled and will have left the overlooked Paul Casey and Justin Rose wondering from afar.
Tiger Woods was initially off-form, despite scoring points, but the world No. 1 was imperious in the singles to share top billing with Steve Stricker on three points.
Stewart Cink was America's most consistent player, Zach Johnson shook off poor recent form to shine in the singles and Rickie Fowler brought youthful exuberance to a team that had begun to look a little old and creaky.
Pavin was questioned, including by Montgomerie, for sending out rookie duo Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson against Harrington and Donald on Day One but the Americans won to leave their skipper smiling and his team ahead.
He was questioned for "hiding" Woods in the middle of his order but Woods won three of his four matches from there and in the singles the "down order" Woods, Mickelson and Johnson all won to pave the way for a possible last-man victory.
That, however, was where Montgomerie played his ace.
The Scot had spoken all week about how previous Ryder Cups had shown the need to "front-load" the singles but Montgomerie kept Graeme McDowell until last as an insurance policy, knowing that the Northern Irish US Open champion had nerves of steel.
It proved an inspired move as McDowell triumphed, partly thanks to opponent Hunter Mahan's failure to deal with the crushing pressure as, with 30,000 sets of eyes boring into his back, he fluffed his chip on the 17th and conceded.
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