George Bush sat on the wet grass just off the 17th hole at Valderrama, wearing socks with the Augusta National logo and khaki slacks with flecks of mud on them.
The 73-year-old former president had been sitting there for a while, hoping to see an American victory in a Ryder Cup match. He wanted to bounce onto the green and shake hands with the victorious U.S. golfers.
“I’ve been waiting all day for a win,” Bush said. “I’d like this (vocal pro-European) crowd to get a taste of what it’s like.”
Bush never got the chance. For the American team, Saturday was like being in Dole headquarters after last November’s election.
In one of the most remarkable developments in Ryder Cup history, the heavily favored U.S. team failed to win a match, going 0-5-2. The stunning performance gave the Europeans a commanding 9-4 lead before darkness suspended play with three foursome (alternate-shot) matches on the course.
Europe’s Ryder Cup is almost two-thirds full. All the team needs is 14 points to retain the Cup; the Americans need 14 1/2. The three foursome matches were to be completed Sunday morning before 12 singles matches take place in the afternoon.
The singles could be an 18-hole European celebration. The Americans needed to win all three morning matches (they were up in one, down in one, and even in the other) to have a flickering chance. No team has ever trailed by more than two points and come back in singles to win the Cup.
Afterward, U.S. captain Tom Kite looked as dejected as Bush was following his loss in the 1992 election.
“Well, obviously, I’m disappointed,” Kite said. “But surprised probably would describe the situation a whole lot more.”
The U.S. came into the day tied 3-3. After another morning rain delay, Europe quickly went up 4-3 when Lee Westwood dropped a 6-foot putt on the 16th hole to close out the Americans in the conclusion of a suspended Friday match.
It was an ominous beginning for the U.S. For the Europeans, it couldn’t have been much better, although captain Seve Ballesteros is not claiming victory yet.
“I said earlier in the week that I had a lot of confidence in my team,” Ballesteros said. “It’s true that we have a certain advantage, but there’s still a long way to go.”
It’s a much shorter way than anyone could have imagined. The anatomy of the disaster wasn’t hard to understand:
It happened because Europe’s unheralded young players–Westwood, Thomas Bjorn and Ignacio Garrido–are outplaying young American superstars Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard and Phil Mickelson. It happened because the Europeans made their putts and the U.S. didn’t. It happened because the Europeans made pars from the trees, while the U.S. made bogeys from the fairway; in two days of four-ball matches, Brad Faxon never had a birdie in 35 holes.
“I thought this morning we had four really strong teams and that we would pull away,” Mickelson said. “We had three of the four majors winners out there. I give them credit. They beat us all.”
Mickelson did his part. Paired with Tom Lehman, he had a chance to give the U.S. a 1-up lead with a short eagle putt on the 17th hole in a match with Garrido and Jose-Maria Olazabal. Mickelson missed the putt and then watched Garrido halve the hole with an incredible sand-save birdie. The match was halved.
“Even the guys who have putted well have been outputted,” Kite said. “I can’t say enough how good a putter Phil is, and he missed those putts. Everyone has.”
Including Tiger Woods. Paired with Mark O’Meara in four-ball, Woods missed putt after putt, registering only three birdies for the round. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Westwood was hot, collecting five birdies over the last nine holes to give him and Nick Faldo a critical 2-up victory.
Lehman wasn’t ready to concede. He still believes the Europeans can be taken in singles because the U.S. supposedly has the better individual players.
But Kite knows it will take a miracle. He didn’t know what he would say to the team Saturday night.
“I’ll have to do a little thinking about what needs to be said,” Kite said. “I need a little quiet time to reflect and try to put everything in perspective.”
No matter where Kite looks, the perspective isn’t good.
