Written by Gary Van Sickle at Golf.com
After Davis Love III holed the putt that won the 1993 Ryder Cup at the Belfry in England, he was so excited that he forgot to pick his ball out of the cup. He never saw it again.
Love watched Ryan Moore clinch America’s first Ryder Cup victory in eight years on the 18th green at Hazeltine National on Sunday, then saw Moore make the same mistake. Love retrieved the ball, and when he went to Moore for a celebratory hug, the captain handed it to him.
“And then Ryan gave it back to me,” a moved Love said a few hours later at the winners’ press conference.
Moore, the last of Love’s four captain’s selections, didn’t win this Ryder Cup, although his clinching point made it official. Patrick Reed didn’t win it by beating Europe’s biggest hitter, Rory McIlroy. Phil Mickelson didn’t win it with his 10 birdies against Sergio Garcia, and Rickie Fowler didn’t win it by knocking off Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose.
This is a cliché, the most trite of all sports clichés, but America’s 17-11 Ryder Cup victory over Europe was truly a team effort. And it’s maybe been longer than anyone wants to admit since the United States fielded a true team, and that the U.S. had won only won two of the eight previous Ryder Cups was no coincidence.
“I’ve never seen a team come together like a family before,” Love said.
If Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson volunteered to be vice captains and subjugated their egos to be part of this revamped effort, you had to believe it was a step into a new frontier.
It all paid off. This marked the first time since 1975 that all 12 players earned at least one point (and 10 won at least two points) and the first time since ’75 that the Americans swept the opening session. The captain of that team? Arnold Palmer, whose golf bag from that year loomed on the 1st tee as inspiration.
“Arnold was looking over us this week,” Love said.
As for the finish, after a player who had been picked for the team only a week earlier scored the point that won the Cup, Love said, “If you wrote that in a movie, nobody would probably believe it.”
Moore, 32, was left shaking his head and at a loss for words. “It’s kind of hard to explain,” he said. “I didn’t even know I’d be here a week ago.”
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