Paging Justin Leonard, David Duval, Ben Crenshaw.
Your country needs you.
Those were the heroes when the U.S. rallied on the final day of the 1999 Ryder Cup. Eleven years later, with the U.S. down 9 ½- 6 ½, it’s time for another miracle.
So Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Corey Pavin, you’re dismissed. Thanks for playing. We need to get serious.
What occurred in the revamped third session of the Ryder Cup Sunday at Celtic Manor – where the U.S. got only ½ of the available six points — was the most thorough wax job in a single session ever in the Ryder Cup, prompting gloom and doom on this side of the pond.
“This thing is over,” said Brandel Chamblee of the Golf Channel.
U.S. mainstay Steve Sticker disagrees.
“We’re only down three,” Stricker said. “We all know what happened at Brookline.”
Stricker was referring to 1999 when the U.S. trailed 10-6 entering Sunday singles. Then pigs took flight. The first seven U.S. players sent out by captain Crenshaw won, setting the scene for Leonard’s outrageous 45-foot bomb that clinched the Cup.
Crenshaw kissed the green that day. For Pavin to do the same, he will need some underachievers to step up. Michelson (0-3) and Johnson (0-3) have been absolute no-shows. After getting much praise for their victory in the opening session, Ryder Cup rookies Jeff Overton (1-2) and Bubba Watson (1-2), haven’t made a putt.
When Overton jarred a wedge on No. 8 on Sunday, he screamed “Boom, baby,” and joined Watson in an over-the-top celebration. After that, despite the adrenaline rush, neither got a putt to the hole, combining for one birdie the rest of the way.
Coming up short is a malady that’s affected the entire U.S. team, even though everyone knows greens are slower in Europe, especially when saturated. So if Pavin has nothing better to offer, he should at least use golf’s tried and true expressions.
- “Never up, never in.”
- “Alice, does your husband play too?”
