McDowell Seals Ryder Cup for Europe(part two)

The ovation for Montgomerie's remark lasted more than 30 seconds, just slightly longer than the ovation Tiger Woods received after he finished his 4-and-3 win over Francesco Molinari, which included a hole-out from the fairway for eagle and a 50-foot birdie putt.

(Callaway X-24 Hot Irons)

Woods smiled then and later, when Fowler — who closed his match with Edoardo Molinari with three straight birdies to win half a point after he was four-down through 12 holes — said he had been inspired by Woods.

"I felt the point that turned around in my match or got me pumped up again was, I saw Tiger make a putt on 13 from about 50 feet, kind of walked it in, and that kind of gave me a little extra life," Fowler said as Woods chuckled. "I went on to win the hole with a par, and that kept me moving those last four where I made a little run."

There will be many more runs for Fowler, as there will be for Europe's undisputed No. 1 golfer, Lee Westwood, 37, who showed why he has emerged as one of the game's ambassadors when he was battling to maintain his lead over Steve Stricker, whom Pavin chose to lead off the team that was trailing Europe, 9 ½-6 ½, entering Monday.

Westwood had a 40-footer for eagle on No. 11, a putt with about 6 feet of break, that hit the edge of the hole and spun out. Westwood and Stricker looked at each other and began laughing. Westwood walked over to Stricker and threw his arm around his shoulder, and they left the green laughing.

So much for life and death, pointing fingers and laying blame. The entire American team made it quite clear it had no intention of letting Mahan bear the brunt of the defeat. Mahan needed to win the 17th and 18th holes from McDowell in order to win a half-point for the team, and thus retain the cup.

With McDowell's ball about 4 feet from the hole after two strokes, Mahan chunked his pitch from a few yards in front of the green to the fringe, some 20 feet away from the hole. When he failed to hole the par putt, the hole, the match and the Ryder Cup went to Europe.

(Callaway FT-iz Fairway Wood)

Mahan had requested the anchor position with that kind of opportunity in mind. When he broke down while answering a fairly innocuous question in the press center, his teammates, led by Phil Mickelson, leapt in.

"We came within a half a point," Mickelson said. "But we could look anywhere throughout those 28 points for that half a point. I look at the three matches that I played in, and had many opportunities to try to get that clinching point. We just fell a little bit shy.

"Europe played some incredible golf all week, and our hats are off to them for their effort."

Mahan later called it "a great learning experience."

The same could be said for the entire American team. There were thousands of shots hit and many putts missed during the week, all by golfers trying to win for the team, not themselves. After coming so close and falling short, the American team that emerges in two years will have forged bonds that endure — like the Europeans who had a portrait of their ailing former leader and friend Seve Ballesteros in the team room all week.

(Callaway Diablo Edge Series )

This is a lot like what the founder of the matches, Samuel Ryder, had in mind when he said in 1927 that he wanted the competition "to be a powerful force that influences the very best things in humanity."

There could be many worse things than restoring that as an overarching principle.