These are the feelings that are evoked by this event and why for rookies, no amount of advice from seasoned campaigners can properly prepare them for the experience of a final day singles at the Ryder Cup.
Europe’s man of the week, Poulter, set the tone for a stunning upset when he made five consecutive birdies in Saturday’s fourballs to snatch an unlikely win and take some momentum into the team room, despite the Europeans being down 10 – 6 and needing to tie the all-time record comeback to retain the Cup.
Until that point, it was a case of the so-called ‘Team of Putters’ – the Americans – who had lived up to that mantle over the first two days. Everything they looked at seemed to go in while the opposite was true for the Europeans. The most noticeable exception apart from Poulter on Saturday was the brilliant rookie performance of Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, shooting 62 on his own ball in Friday’s Fourballs. Colsaerts carried his more experienced partner Lee Westwood, who failed to make a birdie, to a one-up win in Friday’s fourballs over the proven pairing of Tiger Woods and Stricker.
Alas for the American team, the experienced Woods and Stricker would only win a half-point between them despite Woods in particular playing some great individual stretches of golf on all three days.
How the tide turned on Sunday however as the hot putters were brandished almost exclusively by the Europeans. The team's gaggle of current and former world number ones – Rory McIlroy, Westwood, Luke Donald and Kaymer – all burst from the shackles to record crucial wins for Olazábal.
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