Rejuvenated US recaptures Cup

LOUISVILLE - Two years ago, with the points so convincingly added up against them for a third straight time, the Americans who swore an allegiance to this Ryder Cup business searched for answers. Paul Azinger was the one, however, who made a commitment to do something about it.

It revolved around a plan with many parts, some of which could be explained with numerical systems, others in philosophical terms.

"It was," said Azinger, "a team-building strategy."

But he insists he did not think about a possible return of the Ryder Cup to American soil, at least not until the warmest moments of a sun-splashed day at Valhalla Golf Club yesterday afternoon.

Azinger looked around at a sea of red-shirted fans and a scoreboard that featured one red, white, and blue flag after another, each representing a posi tive result in the singles matches. It was then and only then that Azinger caught himself thinking, "This could happen, this could happen."

And it did, too, because with a main ingredient of diverse personalities somehow bringing together Azinger's unconventional recipe for success, the Americans steamrolled Europe in singles play to win their first Ryder Cup since 1999. The score in singles was 7 1/2-4 1/2, the overall count 16 1/2-11 1/2 - marking the most dominant US victory since 1981 - but when all the numbers were crunched, the lasting image of this 37th Ryder Cup was the beverages placed before the 12 European players who came in for their post-tournament news conference, including a trio of heralded names (Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, and Padraig Harrington) who went a combined 0-7-5.

There were bottles of water and soft drinks, because this time - unlike 2006, 2004, and 2002 - the champagne was reserved for American golfers who in recent years had been widely ridiculed for not having a clue as to what this team golf business was all about.

"I had to sell it to the players," said Azinger, and they bought into his plan, which is why the captain could celebrate with 12 American Ryder Cuppers, some of whom had been on the losing side for each of the last three editions.

"It just feels great to have it back on [American] soil," said Azinger.

It arrived on the strength of a singles performance owed to an Azinger fingerprint - his 12-man lineup separated in three four-man groups. Four aggressive personalities up front, four vibrant, crowd-pleasing faces in the middle, and four strong, quiet, and unflappable guys at the end. Buoyed by strong team play each of the first two days, the Americans took a 2-point lead into singles play and Azinger felt the quick start that was essential would most likely be delivered be an aggressive group.

Meet 23-year-old Anthony Kim, who came through with a performance that got the home crowd stirred up in a frenzy. With birdies on three of his first four holes setting in motion a 5-and-4 whipping of Garcia, the door had been opened for his teammates to follow.

They did, too, even those guys with no Ryder Cup experience but bundles of energy.

"From my heart, I appreciate what the young guys did," said Jim Furyk, who tasted Ryder Cup victory for just the second time in six tries. He was referring to Kim, in the leadoff spot, and Hunter Mahan, who played Paul Casey to a tie in the second spot. And Furyk was pointing to those Ryder Cup rookies who went out sixth and seventh, Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes, and continued their week of crowd-pumping golf.

It couldn't have come at a better time, either, for despite Kim's blistering start, Casey's ability to halve Mahan and wins by Robert Karlsson (5 and 3 over Justin Leonard) and Justin Rose (3 and 2 over Phil Mickelson) enabled the Europeans to dodge that momentum and keep very much in the competition.

But Weekley and Holmes were in the heart of Azinger's "middle four players," those with connections to the crowd that could generate passion. It began at fifth singles with Kenny Perry, 48, the lifelong Kentuckian who made the first of his seven birdies at the first hole and ripped Henrik Stenson, 3 and 2. The cheers Perry generated were a perfect introduction to Weekley, the country boy from the Florida Panhandle, then for Holmes, another Kentuckian who considers Valhalla his home course.

The last member of this middle package was Furyk, who played his three team matches with Perry "and tried to be as Southern as I could all week," just to fit into the Azinger concept of never taking his players out of their four groups. Something about compatability, or so they said, but the fact is, philosophical concepts or not, so far as the golf goes, it was easy to figure out.

With Karlsson and Rose in command and the Kim and Mahan matches factored in, the US could rely upon a 10-9 lead and at the very bottom of the lineup were four European names (Graeme McDowell ninth; Ian Poulter 10th; Westwood 11th; Harrington 12th) that would be tough to beat.

Thus did the middle guys feel the pressure. It's just that their efforts never showed it, because while Perry led for 16 of his 17 holes and never trailed, Weekley spotted Oliver Wilson a 1-up lead through two, then had birdies on six holes starting at the par-4 third to assume a lead he never would let go of. Behind Weekley came Holmes, his moon-shot drives leading to a roller-coaster effort against Soren Hansen, but never did the hometown hero fall more than 1 down. And Furyk? The fourth member had the most experience and the most unflappable demeanor and he put it to use vs. Miguel Angel Jimenez.

It was Perry who got home first, a 3 and 2 winner, then came Weekley, whose 4 and 2 win had begun in a fashion that is vintage stuff. With a fairway-splitting drive at the first, Weekley took his driver and galloped down the fairway as if he were riding a horse.

"Funniest thing I've ever seen," said Azinger, though the sight of Weekley knocking in an 18-foot birdie putt to close out Wilson, 4 and 2, at the 16th was good stuff, too.

At 12 1/2 points, the Americans needed 2 to win and with Furyk 3 up through 14, they needed to look to just one more place for the clincher. McDowell was leading Cink, and blue flags represented European edges for Poulter over Steve Stricker, and Westwood over Ben Curtis. And if Harrington could find his struggling game and thwart Chad Campbell, there were fears the visitors somehow could squeeze out the 14 points they needed.

"But we fed off the fans this week," said Perry, who finished his duty and dropped back to cheer on Holmes, who had been 1 down through 10, but birdied the par-3 14th to take a 1-up lead. Then Hansen birdied the par-4 15th from about 6 feet while Holmes missed from 5. It was all square, but at the 16th, a par 4 of 467 yards, Holmes air-mailed it so far he had but 138 yards left and he stuffed a wedge to 8 feet.

And made it.

"You couldn't draw it up any better," said Holmes, who followed those heroics with more at the 17th - a drive well over 350 yards and a 78-yard low, hard wedge that hit the green and came to a screeching halt inside of 3 feet of the hole. With his sixth birdie of the day - against a double bogey and two bogeys that are a testament to his wild and adventurous style - Holmes eliminated Hansen, 2 and 1, to get the US to 13 1/2 points.

That afforded Furyk the chance to secure the clinching point, which also came at the 17th hole with a 2-and-1 triumph that gave all those in red shirts reason to pop the corks. It also allowed the eight players in the final four matches to take a break. Their matches meant not a thing, though McDowell and Poulter completed their wins. So, too, did Curtis and Campbell finish off what could be called upsets, except the only upset that counted on this day was the one that sent Furyk and Mickelson, Cink and Leonard into bear hugs and wide smiles.

They've known so much team golf heartache and now, two years after Azinger had sold his plan to the PGA of America and several weeks after convincing the players that it could work, the captain had proof he was right.

The Ryder Cup was in his hands.