The European effort was teeming with spirit

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- For many, the lasting image from the 35th Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills Country Club will be the Sunday celebration that overflowed with such a joyous spirit that you could not help but get swept up in it. Champagne-soaked fans were draped in huge European flags, their zest resonating in choruses of song and good cheer.

With their pleasing-to-the-ear accents, these fans reached out to their heroes and pleaded for mementos.

"Your shoes. Give us your shoes," they implored. And the players tossed golf shoes into the crowd.

"Your gloves. Give us your gloves," they implored. And the players tossed golf gloves into the crowd.

"Your shirts. Give us your shirts," they implored. But no shirts were seen heading into the crowd. Why? Because these European golfers -- spirited lads with different nationalities but a common cause -- had already given the shirts off their backs to one another for three days. Just as they seem to do every two years -- not because they are told to, but because it comes so naturally.

Indeed, to understand just how we arrived at that celebration at the 18th green Sunday, you would be best served to ponder the proceedings that took place in that same vicinity early Saturday afternoon. For me, the lasting image of the Ryder Cup will be of Sergio Garcia putting his arm around Lee Westwood and explaining his plan. While I wasn't right there with them, I can safely say the conversation probably went something like this:

"Look, Lee, I'm pretty much cooked here. You have a better chance. So why don't I do something that could help you?"

It's called teamwork, and they don't teach it at those fancy golf academies. In fact, it can't be taught at all. You either have it in your soul or you don't. I mean, hitting a shot that really isn't the one you should be playing, just so it might possibly help a guy wearing the same shirt as you are, goes against the central focus of this game, which on every other occasion is an individual quest.

Garcia's plan backfired, sort of. He had intended to pitch his ball out of the greenside rough and up a slope, so that Westwood could get an idea as to how the ball would trickle back and curl toward the hole. But he skulled the shot across the green, so he was some 50 feet away and nowhere near the line Westwood would need.

Garcia laughed. Westwood laughed louder. Then they both became overjoyed when Garcia knocked in that putt from downtown Detroit for bogey to earn a halve against Jay Haas and Chris DiMarco.

In the grand scheme of things, it was a mere half-point. In truth, it was an exclamation point to a demonstration that summed up the essence of this Ryder Cup dilemma that now sits with a group of men at the PGA of America. On the one hand, they are probably giddy over yet another cash flow of massive proportions, tens of thousands of people having shelled out enormous prices for Ryder Cup-logoed merchandise. But the other hand contains this truth: The Europeans embrace this Ryder Cup thing -- always have and always will -- while the Americans, despite their claims to the contrary, are clueless.

PGA of America officials may not want to hear any more of the sore spots, but here are two nuggets of reality for their morning heartburn:

Had the spiteful Mark James not bumbled his captain's pick in 1999 -- he chose Andrew Coltart and kept the incomparable Bernhard Langer out of the only Cup he's missed since 1981 -- we would be talking about five straight victories for Europe and four of five wins on American soil.

The outlook for the next time around -- Dublin, 2006 -- is bleak, what with veteran leadership suspect and so few young stars on the rise. Check out the world rankings, where only two names in the top 50 are Americans under the age of 30: Tiger Woods and Zach Johnson. The Europeans, meanwhile, figure to have the heart of their veteran team in tow, plus this time around, they were able to groom a trio of under-30s -- Luke Donald, Paul Casey, and Ian Poulter -- who could be on the team for years to come.

There'll be time to ponder whether we need a one-year points system (not two) or whether there should be a different way of determining the team (top 20 finishes get points, not just top 10), but in the aftermath of the Americans' most embarrassing loss (18 1/2-9 1/2) in this event, most of the blame will be directed at the players. Without question, they need a serious gut-check, but it says here that the situation is where it is because of the PGA of America leadership. These people need a gut-check more than the players.

They need to reassess their priorities and ask themselves this: Isn't the Ryder Cup about golf and a competitive spirit? If the answer is yes, then let's put a screeching halt to the endless team dinners, the two-year debate over what the team uniforms will look like, matching cheerleading outfits for the wives, the two-hour opening ceremonies with headliners such as Donald Trump, and the black-tie gala on Wednesday night that costs millions of dollars (money that would be better served if it were funneled into junior golf endeavors, but that's another story).

What in the name of Walter Hagen and Ted Ray does any of that have to do with golf? Not a thing. All of that is done for the pure entertainment of the American and European officials. The players don't want it. They put up with it, but they'd rather concentrate on the golf, so it's easy to understand how their embrace of the event is sometimes lukewarm when they see how much of a weeklong party it has become for all these PGA of America officials.

Not that the American players totally get it. They don't. Phil Mickelson's actions were inexcusable. This is a team event, right? So what did he do? He practiced by himself one day, with the team one day, then took two days off from his teammates. Even more ridiculous was the blessing given to this crazy plan by the captain, Hal Sutton.

With Mickelson in his own little world, there was one day when the other 11 Americans practiced this way: A twosome went off hours before four more went out and then came a group of five.

As for the Europeans, they practiced in three groups of four, back-to-back-to-back. Orderly and purposeful. Together, as one. As always.