| The top right photo above shows a pumped up Rory McIlroy punching the
air in delight after holing a 10 foot birdie putt at the par 4 14th hole
in the 'Session 2' foursomes of the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.
That putt took Rory and partner Graeme McDowell back to all square
against Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar and they then went 1 up by also
winning the driveable par 4 15th hole. However,the match was
then turned on it's head by two successive birdies by the American's and
a halved last hole saw them take the spoils. The same two pairs had
also fought it out in the 'Session 1' four-balls and the match finished
all sqaure after the two Irishmen had gamely fought back from 2 down
after 12 holes; McIlroy holing vital lengthy birdie putts at 13 and 17.
The left hand photo shows Rory hitting a fairway wood on the 11th hole
of the halved four-ball match whilst the central picture shows the young
Irishman putting at the 14th hole during the excellent 3&1 success
over Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan in the 'Session 3' foursomes. The
scoreboard in the background shows a sea of blue for the European team
and they would go on to secure 5 1/2 points from the 6 games played in
what was a quite remarkable turnaround. In the final day singles Rory
once more came up against that man Cink and earned a crucial half point
by holing a 3 foot putt for par at the last. At the time nobody could
quite have predicted the significance of that brave effort but as things
would transpire it proved to be an absolutely vital half point; paving
the way for Rory's great friend Graeme McDowell to paint his name into
Ryder Cup folklore by winning the cup for Europe with victory over
Hunter Mahan in the 12th and final singles match |
Four-Balls (Session 1)
Westwood/Kaymer beat Mickelson/D.Johnson (3&2)
McIlroy/McDowell halved Cink/Kuchar
Poulter/Fisher lost to Stricker/Woods (2 up)
Donald/Harrington lost to Watson/Overton (3&2)
Foursomes (Session 2)
Jimenez/Hanson lost to Woods/Stricker (4&3)
Molinari/Molinari lost to Z.Johnson/Mahan (2 up)
Westwood/Kaymer halved Furyk/Fowler
Harrington/Fisher beat Mickelson/D.Johnson (3&2)
Poulter/Donald beat Watson/Overton (2&1)
McDowell/McIlroy lost to Cink/Kuchar (1 up)
Foursomes (Session 3)
Donald/Westwood beat Stricker/Woods (6&5)
McDowell/McIlroy beat Z.Johnson/Mahan (3&1)
Four-Balls (Session 3)
Harrington/Fisher beat Furyk/D.Johnson (2&1)
Hanson/Jimenez beat Watson/Overton (2 up)
Molinari/Molinari halved Cink/Kuchar
Poulter/Kaymer beat Mickelson/Fowler (2&1)
Singles (Session 4)
Lee Westwood lost to Steve Stricker (2&1)
Rory McIlroy halved Stewart Cink
Luke Donald beat Jim Furyk (1 up)
Martin Kaymer lost to Dustin Johnson (6&4)
Ian Poulter beat Matt Kuchar (5&4)
Ross Fisher lost to Jeff Overton (3&2)
Miguel-A. Jimenez beat Bubba Watson (4&3)
Francesco Molinari lost to Tiger Woods (4&3)
Eduardo Molinari halved Rickie Fowler
Peter Hanson lost to Phil Mickelson (4&2)
Padraig Harrington lost to Zach Johnson (3&2)
Graeme McDowell beat Hunter Mahan (3&1)
EUROPE 14.5 beat USA 13.5