Mike Weir hasn’t got so desperate yet — thanks to his $26.8 million in career prize money (No. 17 on the all-time list) — that he has to attend the former. But he’s fallen far enough that the phone doesn’t ring anymore with an invitation from golf’s No. 1 name.

Tiger used to call him Weirsy when they were sort of, though never quite, pals and nearly, though never quite, peers. It seems a long time ago.

The 42-year-old from Sarnia, Ont., who rose to a place no Canadian had ever gone before when he won the 2003 Masters, is still marketable enough — even at the end of a year plagued by what he calls “the perfect storm of bad scenarios” — to have been invited to play in Greg Norman’s 24-man Shark Shootout next week in Naples, Fla., so he’s not entirely gone from golf’s A-list.

The field includes Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter, Steve Stricker, Jason Dufner, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker, Rickie Fowler … you get the idea.

He’s still a name in the fickle world of golf.

But the name is losing currency fast in his adopted country of residence.

So here’s your mission, Mike Weir, if you should choose to accept it — and it appears you have: Get back on the horse that threw you, compete again on the PGA Tour, prove to the ever-doubting public that you are not one of those sad cases — an Ian Baker-Finch, a David Duval — not some passing comet that burned itself out and never had the nerve, again, to put four great rounds together and make a serious move back up the long ladder.

Just how impossible is that mission?

Well, the facts are grim: 34 Canadians are listed in the official world golf ranking, down to Michael Mezei at No. 1,425. Weir isn’t one of them.

The man who was No. 3 in the world nine years ago has no ranking at all, because he made not a single dollar on the PGA Tour in 2012 and only $23,000 in 2011. The man who won eight PGA Tour events has missed the cut in all 14 events he played this season, shot as low as 70 only twice — in his first round and his last — and has compiled a scoring average of 75.30.

And despite all these soul-sucking stats, Canada’s greatest-ever competitive golfer has no doubt he is coming back.

He’ll use one of his two exemptions based on career earnings to play a nearly full schedule this coming year, but money is clearly not what drives him. If it’s any one thing, it’s the desire to prove everyone wrong. Again.

“It’s always been about that,” he said, on the phone from his home outside Salt Lake City. “I’ve heard since I was a junior golfer I’d never be good enough to be a college player, and then I’d never be a good pro, and then I’d never make it off the Canadian Tour …

“This is another setback I’ve had to go through, kind of the perfect storm of bad scenarios, of injuries, of getting into some funky problems, of being stubborn … but it is where I am now. I’m feeling good again and I’m sure there’s some good golf ahead of me.

“I know it’s easier said than done, because, no question, it’s been very stressful. To go out there and play that poorly is an awful feeling, there’s no joy in it when you’re used to a certain level. It’s very demanding mentally to try to keep an attitude and wake up the next day and get back to the grind, but I’ve been able to do that.”

Since early summer, he’s been doing it under the watchful eye of Kiwi Grant Waite. His days of switching from coach to coach, he says, are over. His elbow problems are gone. And, he says, he has gradually gained confidence despite results that haven’t reflected any significant improvement.

“I feel like I’m over the hump, even though the scores are not quite there,” Weir said, “but they’re starting to get lower, starting to be more fairways hit, more greens in regulation hit.

“Outside of the Players Championship and Arnold’s tournament and Jack’s tournament, which are invitationals, I can pretty much play in everything. So, at least this year I’ll be able to set my schedule and I’ve got a few other things out of the way, like coaching … it’ll be a big difference from this past year.”

The quest for distance continues — at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, he has to squeeze every inch out of his driver — but even that, he says, is improving.

“A guy my stature, my size … I remember reading a story where Ben Hogan said he couldn’t sacrifice distance at all, he had to be able to go at it with everything he had. I’m kind of built like him and I have to be able to do that, hit it hard and not try to hit it 50% and just get it out there 260,” he said. “I have to get it out there 290 and take these nice big divots and pound my irons and be aggressive. I feel I can do that now.”

The little girls who were toddlers when he won at Augusta are older now and they want him to win again, too.

“I’m working extremely hard. I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think I had some left — I just wouldn’t,” he said. “And my kids are at an age where they motivate me, they want me to be out there, even though they don’t like to see me go, they’re like, ‘C’mon, dad, get out there and kick those guys’ butts.’ Elle will be 15 in a month and Lili’s 12. They’re pretty athletic and they understand sports, so they see how hard their dad’s working.”

It’s not easy starting over. Even finding a caddy that wants to hook up with a player who’s had such little success of late is no piece of cake.

April at Augusta, where he will always be a champion, beckons, but he’s not looking that far ahead.

“When I tee it up for the Sony Open, I should be ready to go. That’s my goal and I feel that’s very realistic,” he said.

If it doesn’t work out, he’s still got one more career money exemption left in the bag for 2013. Mention it and there is a long silence on the phone.

“If I get to play a full schedule this year and stay nice and healthy,” he said, “I don’t think I’m going to have to use the second one.”

ccole@vancouversun.com

Nick Watney leads the US PGA Tiger Woods World Challenge, presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks  in California. Nick leads the event by two shots, after his opening round of -5 under par, 67.

Nick Watney / Dunn / Getty Images

Nick is ahead of Keegan Bradley, Graeme McDowell and Jim Furyk, who are all at -3 under par, after their rounds of 69.  Graeme McDowell is just one of thirteen Ryder Cup Players who are contesting in this event, making a very strong field indeed. Tiger Woods is in the group at -2 under par 70, he is in good company with Bo Van Pelt and Webb Simpson both on the same score. There are three players at -1 under par, they are Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Aussie Jason Day. Everybody else is over par, the last player on the board is Brandt Snedeker at +3 over par.

Nick shot a round of  80 in the final round in 2010 and then finished last in the 18-player field last year at Tiger Woods’ World Challenge, he said about today;

“I figured since Tiger is nice enough to invite me, I might as well prepare and try to play well. I’m a little better prepared than I have been coming in here. I’ve come in the past two years pretty rusty, hadn’t been doing much work. This tournament’s definitely not as serious or as cut-throat, maybe, but I think when Sunday comes, we’re all very competitive people. If we’re tied going to the last hole, we definitely want to beat the other guy. Winning this event would be an honor. The list of champions is pretty strong. I think everybody comes here wanting to win even though it’s during the holiday season and all that stuff. I’m trying to use it to prepare for next season, and winning never gets old, so that’s the goal.”

Keegan Bradley said he had played solidly all day,

“I did have a bad break on the last hole, but I played so solidly all day.  The drive on No. 18 was literally resting up against a root, and then just to the right of it was a rock. You know, it was a bad break, but also if it didn’t hit that root it probably would have rolled all the way back down that hill toward the ninth fairway.”

Tiger admitted he did not play to the best of his abilities;

“”I didn’t hit it very good, it was nice to scrape out a good score. I could have easily shot myself out of the tournament, but I kept myself in it.”

Tomorrow is another day, and tournament host Tiger Woods will be keen to assert his authority.

One day after golf’s governing bodies proposed a new rule that will ban the anchored stroke used for long putters, Keegan Bradley talked about someone on Twitter telling the PGA champion to send in his resume to Burger King in 2016, when the rule goes into effect. Bradley got so fed up with the teasing over his belly putter this week that he grabbed Tiger Woods’ putter and made three out of four from 10 feet.

The rule doesn’t affect Nick Watney, though he couldn’t say enough about his putting. He made five birdies on his last 10 holes — including his first birdie ever on the 14th hole at Sherwood — for a 5-under 67 that gave him a two-shot lead.

Woods’ putting saved his round, even though most of them were for par. That included a 12-foot putt on the 15th and an 8-footer to avoid bogey on the par-5 16th. It added up to a 70, which left him very much in the hunt at an 18-man event where he is more than just a tournament host. Without a title sponsor, Woods is underwriting most of the cost.

And yes, even Steve Stricker made news Thursday with his putter. He tried a new one.

“Mid-life crisis,” he said.

The World Challenge is not a hit-and-giggle at the end of the year, even with a short field, no cut and lots of holiday cash for all involved. The field is stronger than ever, with 13 players from the Ryder Cup, and it showed in the scores. On a cool, overcast day in the Conejo Valley, only eight shots separated the top (Watney) from Brandt Snedeker, bringing up the rear with a 75.

Snedeker drilled a fairway metal into 8 feet and made eagle on the 11th hole, only for his round to fall apart. He hit two provisional tee shots on the par-3 12th, didn’t have to use them but still made bogey, and then he snap-hooked his next tee shot and made double bogey.

Bradley and a pair of past champions at this tournament — Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell — were two shots out of the lead at 69. Woods was in the group at 70 that included Bo Van Pelt, whom Woods beat this year at Congressional, and U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson.

But the buzz remained over the belly.

Bradley was the first player to win a major using the belly putter at the 2011 PGA Championship, and then Simpson and Ernie Els followed this year. Bradley is not happy about the rule, though he has been respectful toward the U.S. Golf Association and Royal & Ancient in their right to set the rules.

But this is a guy who plays with a chip on his shoulder, and this chip could be a big one.

He described his round as awesome, aside from a bad break on the 18th that led to bogey, the only green he missed all day.

“If I could have made a few more putts, I probably could have been a lot lower,” he said, pausing before he added, “I know people probably don’t want to hear that.”

He then revealed how much abuse he was taking on Twitter, though he knows better not to take seriously a comment from people he either doesn’t know or who don’t use their real names in social media. That would include one tweet telling him to send in an application to Burger King for 2016.

“I’ve been doing a better job lately of not reading them, but I’m going to make a switch when I feel it’s best for me,” Bradley said. “And whether that’s tomorrow or in three years, we’ll see.”

The switch earlier this week to Woods’ putter was only temporary, and it was a joke.

“I give him grief every day,” Woods said.

Too bad Bradley didn’t make Woods try a few putts with the belly.

“You don’t want to see Tiger with that putter,” Bradley said. ‘If it was up to me, I’d film him and send that to Mike Davis. I think he would take the ban off.”

Bradley did a little more experimenting after his round Thursday. He gripped his putter a little lower so that the end wasn’t anchored to his belly. He ran the putter up his left arm for a few putts, the style used by Matt Kuchar that would remain legal. But as he tinkered around, he noticed a TV camera filming him and stopped.

It’s still a sensitive subject for Bradley, and he wants everyone to know he’s a pretty good golfer with any putter in his bag.

“I feel like the USGA has really put an ‘X’ on our back and really shined a light on us, and I don’t know if that’s exactly fair,” Bradley said. “I just hope that people look at us for the type of players that we are and the accomplishments that we’ve had, and not because we use a belly putter, and now the USGA says it’s going to be illegal. When we started putting with it, they were legal. And they still are.

“It’s a sticky situation, and I hope they can see through that.”

As for Stricker?

He says he got his new putter at a golf store in Madison, Wis., which begged another question: What was he doing in a golf store?

“Looking for a putter,” he said.

Stricker figured it was time to mix things up, so during his long break from golf, he went looking for a putter similar to what Luke Donald and Ian Poulter use. He bought a Sabertooth made by Odyssey, the same company that made the putter he has used so long even the metal tape on the bottom looks old.

“I like the way it feels, and I putted good today, especially on the short ones,” Stricker said.

Not to worry. He brought his old putter with him to Sherwood. “Just in case,” he said with a smile.

The USGA has announced a rule change they hope to implement for the 2016 season, if not sooner. This rule will ban anchoring, the act of resting a putter against one’s stomach while putting.

In effect, the belly putter would be outlawed.

The PGA Tour would not be required to comply with the USGA’s change, though it is likely they would.

Concern has raised recently that those using a belly putter have an unfair advantage because it is easier to balance the club while swinging, supposedly making putting easier.

Recent results suggest that anchoring does produce winners. Three of the last five major winners- Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, and Ernie Els- won while using a belly putter, though nobody achieved such success before this group.

The PGA also said they will accept input from players until the change is officially written into the rule book, meaning Bradley and others will have a chance to make their case for allowing anchoring to stay.

Other players, most notably Steve Stricker, have spoken out against the belly putter, citing the unfair advantage others gain from it.

Whether there is merit to Stricker’s claims remains to be seen. It is possible that Bradley, Simpson and Els can attribute their victories to strong play and poise under pressure over anything else; after all, Els was already a multiple major champion before he made the switch to the belly putter.

The USGA and the R&A (Europe’s governing body) rule changes generally take place on a four-year cycle, which is why we may not see this change until January 1, 2016. The PGA may try to make the change sooner but regardless of when that change finally does happen it is likely we have not heard the last of this debate.

I came across this article from Steve Sricker, one of the PGA tours most consistent short game technicians recently and thought I should post it. I use this style myself with great success on the LPGA tour for many years both in the USA and playing in Europe. Since retiring from tour competition I try to pass on my experience to my students and have taught this method with lots of success.
Here is Steve Stricker explaining how he plays this chip:

There are a couple of reasons you can work on your chipping outdoors in the winter:

(1) Because it’s not a big swing, you can wear a heavy jacket and not feel too restricted.

(2) If you get good at chipping off frozen turf, you’ll be really good off lush grass after everything thaws.

Most pros hinge their wrists abruptly in the backswing on a chip shot to generate clubhead speed and create backspin. But I’ve found that my “dead-hands” approach, with very little wrist hinge, gives me more consistency. The ball doesn’t stop as quickly, but I can always count on it behaving the same way. Plus, the swing is simpler and easier to repeat, so I recommend it to amateurs.

At address, set your weight favoring your left side and lean the shaft slightly forward (that’s all the wrist hinge you’ll need). Then take the club back with your shoulders and forearms. All your hands do is hold onto the grip. The thought you want is to drag the clubhead through impact. Sometimes when amateurs have too much wrist set, their impulse is to release it on the way down and flick at the ball. With my style, the hands and wrist stay quiet.

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2008-03/stricker_wintergame#ixzz2CzbUoASu

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has expressed a desire to one day be the U.S.A Ryder Cup Captain, he said recently;

“It would be a huge honor, hopefully it doesn’t happen in the near future. I would like to be able to play for a lot more teams but certainly one day when my career is slowing down or it’s over, it would be huge to be part of a Ryder Cup from the captaincy side.”

Given that Tiger has lost six times against Europe in seven appearances, including most recently at Medinah Country Club where the USA threw away a commanding lead on the final day, his resume for the tournament does not instill one with any confidence in his ability to lead a team. In fact it is Tiger’s inability to perform well in a team environment that really astounds everyone. Instead of leading from the front, he seems to retreat into a shell in a team effort. I personally doubt that a man, no matter how great a player he is, if he can not perform well in a team environment, how will he be able to inspire others to do what he could not.

Tiger also confirmed that he has apologized to the four rookies who played on the United States’ team, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker, for not contributing a single point in their devastating loss at Medinah. He admitted he found it tough;

“I had an opportunity to earn three points in team sessions but I did not do that. It was tough. Stricks and I went out there and tried to earn points for the team and didn’t do that and it was frustrating. We had a four-point lead and we went 0-3.”

Golf is not such a genteel game when the United States and Europe compete in the Ryder Cup.

The most recent edition at the Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago looked to be a walkover for the United States during the first two days of the competition as the Americans were hooting and hollering and urging the crowd to cheer them on throughout the competition.

The most notable moment of the first two rounds may have been Bubba Watson urging the crowds to roar as he teed off on the first hole as if the Ryder Cup was some Southeast Conference football game.

It was all great theater and the U.S. golfers seemed up to the task for two days. But when the money was on the table on Sunday, the U.S. golfers stopped breathing.

The Americans had a huge margin as they took the course, but they proceeded to give it all back to the Europeans, choking on the final two holes in several of the matches that were all but won.

You want names? How about Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and the great Tiger Woods. Furyk was up by one as he headed to the 17th against Spain’s Sergio Garcia. As Garcia went about his business, Furyk looked like he wanted to be any place but Medinah and on the golf course. He did everything but break down and start crying as he failed on both of those holes.

Then there was Stricker. He was on the team because of his mastery of the short game and his supposed partnership with Woods.

Stricker played like an 18-handicapper in his match with Martin Kaymer. His putting was atrocious, and it was never worse than it was when he had a lengthy putt on the final hole that would have given him a birdie.

Nobody expected him to make the putt, but it was so far off line that he never had a chance. His saving par putt was about 15 feet, and he somehow managed to roll it in.

That forced Kaymer to make his putt. He did and Europe celebrated.

Prior to the singles, Stricker and his buddy Tiger all but rolled over for the Europeans in the team competition. Much was made of Europe’s Nicolas Colsaerts sensational putting run on Thursday, but Stricker and Woods just couldn’t get it done.

Woods was in the clean-up position on Sunday, and it seemed that the U.S. would not need him to secure the victory. However, when the early matches slipped away, Tiger had to beat Francesco Molinari.

Woods name is associated with the all-time greats of the game. Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer are in his foursome. Molinari could caddy for Woods in that grouping.

However, Tiger could not shake Molinari. He was up by one heading into the last hole and if Stricker could have halved his match with Kaymer, the U.S. would have needed Tiger to hold on to his lead to secure the Ryder Cup.

It wouldn’t have happened. Tiger may someday get back to his killer form, but he wasn’t close to performing at that level in this year’s majors or the Ryder Cup.

His mental game needs work, as does the mental game of his choking teammates.

Did the Americans blow it at Medinah Country Club?  Sound off below…

Europe got its payback for Brookline, when the Americans roared back from the same 10-6 deficit. This rally was even more remarkable, carried out before a raucous American crowd that began their chants of “USA!” some three hours before the first match got under way.

Jose Maria Olazabal squeezed his eyes and fought back tears when Kaymer holed a 6-foot par putt to beat Steve Stricker and give Europe the point it needed to keep the cup. This was the first Ryder Cup since Ballesteros, the soul of European golf in this event, died last May of a brain tumor. Olazabal wanted his team to wear navy blue, Seve’s favorite color, and added a clever touch — his iconic silhouette on the sleeves of their shirts.

“This one is for all of Europe,” Olazabal said. “Seve will always be present with this team. He was a big factor for this event for the European side, and last night when we were having that meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing. And I think they did.”

Tiger Woods missed a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole, and then conceded a par to Francesco Molinari of about that length to halve their match. That extra half-point made it a clear-cut win for Europe, 14.5-13.5.

Woods and Stricker, the anchors in the lineup, didn’t win a single match at Medinah.

Ian Poulter was the first to embrace Olazabal, which was only fitting.

It was Poulter who gave Europe hope Saturday evening when he made five straight birdies to turn a loss into a win and swing momentum in Europe’s favor. Poulter was up to his fist-pumping, eye-bulging tricks again on the final day, winning the last two holes in his match against U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson.

And he had plenty of help. Europe’s top five players in the lineup all won, including Rory McIlroy, who was lucky to be playing. McIlroy thought his match was at 12:25 p.m. — it was listed in Eastern time, not Central — and needed a police escort to get to the course with 10 minutes to spare. Then, he came up with key birdies to hand Keegan Bradley his first loss of the week.

The biggest match might have belonged to Justin Rose. He was on the verge of losing to Phil Mickelson when Rose holed a 12-foot par putt to halve the 16th, made a 35-foot birdie putt from the back of the 17th green to win the hole, and then closed out Mickelson with a 12-foot birdie on the last hole.

Six of the 12 matches went to the 18th hole on Sunday. The Americans won only one of them.

The Americans also rallied from a four-point deficit to win in 1999 at Brookline. This was different, though. The Americans won big in those early matches. At Medinah, so many of them could have gone either way.

It was so close, so tense, that either side could have won the Ryder Cup down to the very end.

Stricker made an 8-foot par putt on the 18th, and Kaymer faced a par putt from 6 feet to win the match. If he missed, the Americans would get a half-point, and Woods was leading 1-up over Molinari and in the middle of the 18th fairway.

Kaymer, a former No. 1 and major champion who has struggled all year, poured it in the middle and the celebration was on.

He could barely speak at this point, not so much from pure emotion but having to scream over the crowd behind him. Players were hugging and crying, and the small European contingent that had been drowned out all week was serenading themselves with what has become the theme song of the Ryder Cup.

“Ole, ole, ole, ole,” they sang merrily, even as the teams prepared for the closing ceremony.

Europe now has won seven of the last nine Ryder Cups, and even more remarkable about this comeback is that they did it on the road.

Davis Love III became the first U.S. captain to sit every player at least once before Sunday, wanting them to be fresh for the decisive day. Instead, the Americans faltered at the end — especially Jim Furyk and Stricker, two of his captain’s picks.

“The plan worked the first two days,” he said. “It just didn’t work today.”

The only U.S. points came from Dustin Johnson, who went 3-0 in this Ryder Cup, Zach Johnson and unheralded Jason Dufner.

“We’re all kind of stunned,” Love said. “We know what it feels like now from the `99 Ryder Cup. It’s a little bit shocking. We were playing so well, we figured it didn’t matter how we sent them out there. We got a couple of matches flipped there in the middle that cost us.”

Love thought all along the Ryder Cup would be decided in the ninth match by Dufner. It was most appropriate that Europe won the cup thanks to Kaymer.

Kaymer gave German golf some redemption from Kiawah Island in 1991, when countryman Bernhard Langer missed a par putt from about the same length that allowed the Americans to win.

“It’s a feeling I never had before,” Kaymer said. “On Friday, I sat down with Bernhard and talked a little bit about the Ryder Cup because my attitude was not the right one. But now I know how important the Ryder Cup is.”

Source: pgatour.com

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As I’m sure most of you already know, the European team tied the record for largest final day comeback in Ryder Cup history Sunday when they claimed 8 1/2 of a possible 12 points to defeat the US and retain the cup. Here are one man’s opinions of the final day’s actions:

• The Europeans played outstanding and earned their victory. It seemed as though whenever they needed a putt to go in it did. On the other side, the Americans couldn’t catch a break; nothing was dropping and the team seemed visibly rattled as the afternoon moved along.

• I had an uneasy feeling going in to the day after Europe won the final two matches Saturday to pull within four. The US had a chance to put the contest away and one could sense a momentum shift when they failed to do so. I’m not saying I knew they would lose at that point, just that victory no longer seemed like a sure thing.

• US Captain Davis Love III has been getting slammed after Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker, two of his picks, choked down the stretch. Furyk seemed uncharacteristically rattled as he dropped the final two holes to Sergio Garcia to fall 1 Up.

Furyk

• Stricker also fell 1 Up to Martin Kaymer in the decisive match and struggled with accuracy down the stretch. He had chances to keep pace but couldn’t knock anything close to the hole and his short game was just plain bad.

• As the only American to not earn a single point all weekend Stricker was disappointing. He and Tiger are usually very dependable but just couldn’t get the job done.

Stricker

• Kaymer made the putt of his life. It wasn’t a long one but it’s guaranteed to be replayed for a very long time.

• Probably the most surprising win for Europe came from Paul Lawrie, who handled Brandt Snedeker 5 & 3. The FedEx Cup champion was seen as a shoo in to earn one of the 4 1/2 points needed by the US but instead didn’t win a single hole in the match. Hopefully he is better prepared mentally should he become a frequent Ryder Cup participant.

Kaymer celebrates the victory

• Credit must be given to Justin Rose, who made a long putt to tie the 16th hole with Phil Mickelson and then closed with consecutive birdies to steal a 1 Up victory. His performance was a major reason the Europeans were able to come back and was probably the most impressive of the afternoon.

• With that being said, why was Lefty laughing and applauding when Rose sank the long birdie putt on 17? Any golfer can appreciate a great shot but when a guy has tied you in such an important match stone faced and calm may be the best way to go.

Rose

• If Stricker or any of the other Americans had been able to hold for even half a point, Tiger Woods would have been in position to seal the deal for the US in the final match. Had that happened, ESPN, the Golf Channel, Twitter and just about every other outlet paying attention may have exploded.

• The big story early on was Rory McIlroy almost missing his tee time and only showing up with 10 minutes to spare. Apparently the best player in the world doesn’t need as much time to warm up as any regular Joe out on the local public course.

In the end it was a great victory for Jose Maria Olazabal and his team. The Europeans have now won 7 of the last 9 Ryder Cups. The Americans dominated the team matches but just couldn’t take care of business when it came to singles play. There is nothing left for them to do but congratulate the Europeans on an amazing comeback and get ready for 2014, when the Americans will no doubt be hungry to return serve and steal the Cup back on foreign soil.

European Ryder Cup Winning Captain Jose Maria Olazabal

The Ryder Cup 2012 turned into a magical explosion of great golf as the European Ryder Cup Team produced a stunning final-day comeback to win the Ryder Cup at a shell-shocked Medinah Country Club on the final day of this wonderful competition, to beat Team U.S.A. I personally have to eat humble pie, after yesterday saying a betting man would not give Europe a chance, you can see why I am not a gambling man.

Team U.S.A.  only required four points from the 12 on offer on the last day, Team Europe somehow secured eight and a half to clinch a historic 14½-13½ win. German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th green to get his team to the 14 points needed to retain the Ryder Cup Trophy, before a Tiger Woods bogey in the final match gifted them overall victory.

Etched in the sky during the last day was a message about remembering  Seve,  so I guess it worked. Team Europe wore the trademark Seve Ballesteros colors for the final day, it was a fitting tribute. European Team Captain said,

“Seve will always be present with this team. He was a big factor for this event, for the European side, and last night when we were having that meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing, and I think they did.”

This was the first time in three days that Team Europe had come charging out of the traps, Luke Donald going into an early two-hole lead over Bubba Watson and muting both his opponent and the crowd in the process. Then with Justin Rose also two up on Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy held off the previously unbeatable Keegan Bradley and the unsung hero Paul Lawrie taking early control against Brandt Snedeker. There was an entirely different atmosphere around the course than there had been on the first two one-sided days. Team Europe won the first five matches of the day, and that set the tone, and paved the way to Victory.

In the end  it came down to the last two matches on the final two holes, both matches were all-square and is was all square on the leaderboard.  None of the four, Martin Kaymer, Steve Stricker, Francesco Molinari or Tiger Woods, had won a single point between them all week. Then suddenly Steve Stricker three-putted on the 17th green and Martin Kaymer had a one-hole lead. Tiger Woods went one up on Molinari on the 17th which left Martin Kaymer two putts for the Cup, and he somehow held his nerve as the shadows lengthened to seal an extraordinary triumph. The usually noisy home galleries were silent with disbelief, as a dazed Tiger Woods blew two putts from within eight feet to hand Molinari a half point, and with it victory.

U.S.A. Team Captain Davis Love 111 said in disbelief;

“We know what it feels like now from the ’99 Ryder Cup, it’s a little bit shocking. We were playing so well.”

USA 13½-14½ Europe

Singles matches:

Watson lost to Donald 2&1

Simpson lost to Poulter 2 up

Bradley lost to McIlroy 2&1

Mickelson lost to Rose 1 up

Snedeker lost to Lawrie 5&3

D Johnson beat Colsaerts 3&2

Z Johnson beat McDowell 2&1

Furyk lost to Garcia 1 up

Dufner beat Hanson 2 up

Kuchar lost to Westwood 3&2

Stricker lost to Kaymer 1 up

Woods halved with Molinari

There was no way they could lose this.

The USA Ryder Cup team was up 10-6 going into the final day of singles matches; they had been up 10-4 at one point on day two. They needed four and a half points to win the Cup from the Europeans. It seemed to be a certainty that at the end of the 12 singles matches Sunday, we would be talking about the stellar play of the Americans and the missed putts and mishaps by the Europeans.

Oh, how the tides turned at Medinah.

In what was tied for largest final day comeback in Ryder Cup history, team Europe weathered a rowdy American crowd in Chicago and blew past team USA in stunning fashion, retaining the Ryder cup with a 14 1/2-13 1/2 victory. In 1999, team USA rallied to defeat team Europe after trailing 10-6 on the final day, but the Cup was being held in Brookline, Mass., so the Americans had the home field advantage.

“Last night, when we were having our team meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing,” said José María Olazábal, the European captain.

Martin Kaymer celebrates after securing the victory for the European team. Courtesy: Sky Sports

That belief grew as the day progressed, as the Europeans won the first five matches of the day. Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, Paul Lawrie and Rory McIlroy all left the course victorious. McIlroy, who arrived only 10 minutes before his tee time because of a mix-up with NBC posting Eastern times instead of Central times, started off slow, but roared to a victory over Ryder Cup rookie Keegan Bradley.

The only victories on the day for the Americans came from another rookie, Jason Dufner, and the two Johnsons on the American team, Dustin and Zach.

“We’re all kind of stunned,” American Captain Davis Love III told the New York Times. “We were playing so well. We just figured it didn’t matter how we sent them out there.”

You can call this an epic comeback or an epic collapse, and I prefer the latter. On the 17th and 18th holes, not a single American won a hole. In crunch time, where it really matters, the Americans could not step up and take what was clearly in their sights – a Ryder Cup title earned with superb golf played over the course of two days. But, on day three, the Americans just went away.

I don’t know if there was anything Love III could have done to change what happened Sunday. Phil Mickelson, who had been perfect the first two days pairing up with Bradley, blew a 1-up lead with two holes to play against Rose. Jim Furyk, whose summer has already been filled with disappointment after losing the US Open on the back nine, also blew a 1-up lead with two holes to play to Sergio Garcia.

But the biggest blow to the Americans came from Steve Stricker. Stricker was playing against German Martin Kaymer, a former world No-1 and major championship winner who was the first German to play on the European Ryder Cup team since Bernhard Langer in 1991. Stricker missed a par putt on the 17th hole to give Kaymer a 1-up lead, forcing Stricker to have to win the 18th for the Americans to have a chance to win the Cup.

All Tiger Woods could do Sunday was watch as his teammates stumbled in front of him, making his match irrelevant.

But after a drive in the middle of the fairway, Stricker over-clubbed his approach and two-putted for a par, which was matched by Kaymer, sealing the win for the Europeans and leaving Tiger Woods’ match, the last of the day, insignificant.

For all of the struggles the United States has had in the Ryder Cup in recent years, this year seemed different. Ryder Cup rookies were playing like there was no pressure on them, and veterans like Mickelson were making putts and playing as solidly as they possibly could. But as so many times before, the Europeans had just enough to beat them and retain the Cup for the fifth time in the last six Ryder Cups.

As what has become the norm for the American team, it is another opportunity lost.

“I’m going to second-guess myself for a long time,” Love III, said. “Could have done a lot of things differently, but I’m proud of our team.”

If you would like to email me about anything I’ve written, you can do so by emailing me at misterbar333@yahoo.com or contact me on twitter @Ev_Dunbar. I would love feedback and advice on what I can do better or what I should be doing more or less of!

MEDINAH (CBS) It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment, but some time Sunday the confidence among American fans on Medinah No. 3 turned to nervousness, then doubt, and then, of course, complete shock.

On the 15th hole, the “Is this actually happening?” realization seemed to come when Jim Furyk came up short of the green on a chip that wasn’t more than 30 feet from the hole. By then, the Europeans had already won the first five matches of the day and it was becoming pretty obvious that Furyk was going to have to hold on to his one-hole lead if the Americans wanted to avoid a historic collapse.

Suddenly, a raucous crowd outside Chicago that had been called by many on Saturday “the greatest crowd in the history of golf” was being dwarfed by the minority of Europeans that circled the 15th green. It was hard to blame the Chicagoland gathering, since in this city, collapses have become a regular occurrence recently.

Furyk ended up heading to the 16th hole with his lead in hand, but the chip that looked more like one a member at Medinah would hit rather than a PGA Tour veteran was an indication that all the Ryder Cup pressure had fully shifted to the American side and it was getting to the players.

Sure enough, Furyk bogeyed 17 and 18, allowing Sergio Garcia to earn the Europeans a crucial swing point with measly pars on a course with no rough that played relatively easy all weekend.

Furyk’s collapse shifted all the pressure to Steve Stricker, who also stumbled on 17, allowing Martin Kaymer to complete a comeback that was only matched by the Americans’ unlikely surge at Brookline in 1999.

And when Kaymer’s putt fell on 18 to clinch the Ryder Cup, European captain Jose Marie Olazabal glanced at the sky and burst into tears realizing the nearly impossible had happened.

“On Friday I sat down with Bernhard (Langer) and talked to him a little bit about the Ryder Cup because my attitude wasn’t the right one,” Kaymer said. “But now, after that match today against Steve (Stricker), I know how important the Ryder Cup became and is for Olazabal.”

21 years ago, it was Langer, Kaymer’s German countryman, who missed a decisive putt at Kiawah that cost the Europeans the Ryder Cup. But Sunday, it was Kaymer clinching a win that was of extra importance to a European team that wanted to win it in memory of the late Seve Ballesteros, who help launch the European Ryder Cup surge in the 1980s.

Olazabal played a big part in European Ryder Cup victories alongside Ballesteros and spoke frequently this week about how much it would mean to win this Cup for his good friend.

“He was a big factor for this event, for the European side, and last night we were having that meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing. I think they did,” Olazabal said.

It was pretty clear from the start that the Europeans believed they could erase the Americans’ 10-6 lead going into Sunday. Olazabal stacked his pairings with his strongest players early and they delivered by winning the first five matches. Luke Donald, a Northwestern grad who resides outside Chicago, set the tone by beating Bubba Watson 2 & 1 in a match that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

“Well, that was my job as the guy leading off to go out there and get the first point and put some blue on the board early,” Donald said. “Hopefully I gave the guys plenty of inspiration.”

Clearly he did, as Ian Poulter delivered in the next by taking the final two holes in a match he never led until Webb Simpson bogeyed 17.

“Last night that team room was buzzing,” Poulter said. “We just knew we had a chance and you know what? This is history right here. This has been unbelievable.”

Rory McIlroy followed by beating Keegan Bradley, the Americans’ hottest player, despite nearly missing his tee time. McIlroy said he mixed up the Central and Eastern Timezones and had to be taken to the course in a police car just to make his match in time.

Then it was Justin Rose, who simply rose to the occasion with birdies on 17 and 18 to overcome a one-hole deficit and beat Phil Mickelson.

Of course, for the Europeans to complete such an unlikely comeback, they needed some help. While they deserve a ton of credit for coming out firing as they did Sunday, the poor performances by a few of the Americans didn’t help.

Ian Poulter was a perfect 4-0 over the weekend, but Simpson’s bogey on 17 helped the Englishman stay undefeated. And had either Furyk or Stricker hit putts they usually make — Furyk on 18 and Stricker on 17 — Tiger Woods would have had a chance to win the Cup for the Americans on 18.

“I am disappointed that I let 11 other players down and the captains,” Stricker said. “And probably there at the end, Tiger and I (had a chance) to probably get some points. And I didn’t. So that’s disappointing.”

But Stricker’s struggles told the story Sunday. The Americans left the door open and a hungry European took advantage. Sound familiar?

“We are all kind of stunned,” U.S. Captain Davis Love III said. “We know what it feels like now from the ’99 Ryder Cup.”

Unfortunately, it’s a feeling that has become all too familiar in Chicago these days.

Adam Hoge

Adam is the Sports Editor for CBSChicago.com and specializes in coverage of the Bears, White Sox and college sports. He was born and raised in Lincoln Park and attended St. Ignatius College Prep before going off to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he earned a Journalism degree. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHogeCBS and read more of his columns here.

Martin Kaymer Celebrates After Clinching The Run

A stunning European comeback, coupled with a shocking American collapse, allowed the Europeans to win the 2012 Ryder Cup, the biannual golf tournament between the two.  The US had a large lead coming into the final day, and only needed four points from 12 possible to clinch the cup.  But Europe came out charging, as they were quickly able to overcome the deficit.

German Martin Kaymer was able to secure the win, by defeating Steve Stricker one up.  Tiger Woods then shockingly missed a three-foot par putt in the final match to end the tournament in miserable fashion for the US.  It was the biggest comeback Europe has ever secured, and tied the record, set by the US in 1969.  The win was dedicated to Seve Ballesteros, the golfing legend who died in May of last year.

Late Sunday afternoon at Medinah Country Club in suburban Chicago, Martin Kaymer stood over his own six footer with this year’s Ryder Cup on the line. With a confident stroke the 27-year old buried the ball in the heart of the cup, defeating Steve Stricker 1-up and clinching the 2012 Ryder Cup for Team Europe. Kaymer’s winning putt was the culmination of an unbelievable finish to the biennial matches in which Europe, led by the golfer most passionate about the Cup on either team, mounted the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history.

There was a point early in Friday morning’s opening foursomes matches at which Europe held the lead in all four contests. For much of the rest of the weekend, that looked like it was going to be the visitors’ high point of the 39th renewal of these matches. The U.S. rallied to earn a split Friday morning, led by what would prove to be the powerhouse team of Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, who dusted Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia 4&3. Mickelson and Bradley emerged victorious again in Friday afternoon’s fourballs, this time over world #1 Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. The American pair who often play practice rounds together before weekly PGA Tour tournaments were one of three American teams to post wins on Friday afternoon, as the host team rolled out to a 5-3 lead after day one.

Team USA appeared to seize control of the matches on Saturday morning, when they duplicated their 3-1 score of Friday afternoon. Only the English duo of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose were able to post a victory for Team Europe, 1-up over Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. When the U.S. won the first two games on Saturday afternoon the American lead had ballooned to 10-4 and what had been widely predicted to be a closely contested Ryder Cup was turning into a rout.

But as can happen in any sport, just when the eventual outcome seems certain we are reminded that there is a reason why they actually play the games. First Donald and Garcia, playing in the third afternoon fourball game against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, raced out to a 4-up lead at the turn. The Americans fought back to close to within one through 16 holes, and when Woods struck his tee shot on the 178-yard par -3 17th to within five feet of the hole, it looked like the match might be all square. But the unflappable Donald came through under pressure, putting his own tee shot inside of Tiger’s. The matching birdies preserved the lead and the European pair went on to win the first point of the afternoon for their team.

Then in the final team match before Sunday’s twelve singles, McIlroy and Poulter found themselves 2-down to Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson through 12 holes. McIlroy rolled in a birdie at 13 to cut the lead to one; and then, as he later said, stepped aside and watched “the Poults show.” While casual fans may know him more for his loud clothing than his ball striking, Poulter has fifteen professional wins and loves match play. He won both the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2010 and the European Tour’s Volvo World Match Play Championship last year. Although like most members of the European team he plays full-time on the PGA Tour and makes his principal home in Florida, no one is more passionate about the Ryder Cup. In the days leading up to the event he repeatedly shared his building excitement with his more than 1.3 million Twitter followers. All the 36-year old Poulter did on Saturday afternoon was put Europe’s slim chances on his back with the beginnings of an improbable comeback. After McIlroy’s birdie Poulter sank birdie putts of his own on each of the last five holes, as the European duo rallied for a 1-up victory.

No team had even won after trailing 10-4; yet even with the two late wins on Saturday, Team Europe entered Sunday’s singles matches still trailing 10-6. The four point gap matched that which the U.S. team overcame on the final day in 1999 at The Country Club. But there the U.S. had the advantage of playing on home soil, with the crowd energizing them throughout that final day. With Team Europe having to duplicate the feat while playing as visitors, an eventual U.S. victory still seemed like a safe bet.

At least it did until European captain Jose Maria Olazabal elected to send his best-performing players all out in the early matches, in the hopes of scoring a string of victories and cutting into the big lead. It was a strategy that worked perfectly. Playing in the first match, Donald defeated Watson 2&1 for the first point of the day. Forty-nine minutes later Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, playing in the middle of the day’s matches, finished off a 5&3 thrashing of Brandt Snedeker to pull Europe within two points. Within less than fifteen minutes of Lawrie’s win, McIlroy and Poulter each won their games at the front of the field, and the score was deadlocked at 10-10. Poulter’s 2-up win over Webb Simpson gave him a perfect 4-0-0 record for this year’s Ryder Cup. Matching his dramatic finish from Saturday, Poulter won both 17 and 18 to turn an all square match into a full point for his team.

Dustin Johnson finally won Team USA’s first point, beating Belgium’s Nicholas Colsaerts 3&2, but even as he did so the 2012 Ryder Cup was turning in a match being played ahead of him. Justin Rose, the last of the three Englishmen Olazabal had sent out early along with McIlroy to try to build momentum, was 1-down to Mickelson and faced a lengthy birdie putt on the 17th green. Rose had already saved a half on the 16th by knocking in a 12-foot par putt. Now his 35-footer from the back of the green raced up to the hole and dove in, squaring the match. While many of the golfers had responded to such moments throughout the week with fist pumps and roars, Rose simply walked across the green with a look that said to the world, “I knew I was going to make it, why are you so surprised?” A few minutes later he finished off Mickelson with a 12-foot birdie at the last, and even Phil was applauding Rose’s heroics.

With wins in the first five matches to tee off, the question was whether Team Europe’s late starters could complete the miracle comeback. Lee Westwood, who had not played well for most of the weekend, found enough of his game to defeat Matt Kuchar, and the visitor’s cause was helped when Jim Furyk missed a short par putt on the 18th to hand a win to Garcia. Then Stricker missed a par save on the 17th to give Kaymer a 1-up lead, and set the stage for a moment reminiscent of one more than two decades old. This time, there would be no denying the German golfer staring at a six-foot putt for Ryder Cup glory.

Martin Kaymer delivered the crucial point with a 1-up victory over Steve Stricker on Sunday, and Tiger Woods missed from inside four feet to halve his match with Francesco Molinari. The Europeans finished with 14 ½ points while the Americans had 13 ½.

When Kaymer rolled in the 6-footer to clinch the cup, he threw up his arms in triumph and shook his fists. His teammates, surrounding the green and already on their feet, roared and began grabbing flags and hugging each other , fans — anyone and anything that was in reach.

European captain Jose Maria Olazabal, watching from the middle of the fairway, closed his eyes and looked skyward. This was the first Ryder Cup without the late Seve Ballesteros, Europe’s greatest player, and Olazabal had repeatedly invoked the memory of his good friend.

It was a brutal loss for the Americans, who were poised to win the Ryder Cup for only the third time since 1999 after taking a 10-4 lead midway through Saturday afternoon’s matches. But the Europeans rallied to win the final two, then built on the lead by winning the first five matches Sunday.

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Europe got its payback for Brookline. Martin Kaymer gave German golf redemption for Kiawah Island.

Jose Maria Olazabal squeezed his eyes and fought back tears when Kaymer holed a 6-foot par putt — about the same length that countryman Bernhard Langer missed at Kiawah in 1991 — to beat Steve Stricker and give Europe the point it needed to keep the cup.

Tiger Woods missed a 3½-foot par putt on the 18th hole and conceded a par to Francesco Molinari that halved their match, that extra half-point making it a clear-cut win for Europe, 14½-13½.

Woods and Stricker, the anchors in the lineup, didn’t win a single match at Medinah.

“This one is for all of Europe,” Olazabal said. “Seve will always be present with this team. He was a big factor for this event for the European side, and last night when we were having that meeting, I think the boys understood that believing was the most important thing. And I think they did.”

Ian Poulter was the first to embrace Olazabal, which was only fitting.

It was Poulter who gave Europe hope Saturday evening when he made five straight birdies to turn a loss into a win and swing momentum in Europe’s favor. Poulter was up to his fist-pumping, eye-bulging tricks again on the final day, winning the last two holes in his match against U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson.

And he had plenty of help. Europe’s top five players in the lineup all won, including Rory McIlroy, who was lucky to be playing. McIlroy kept thinking his match was at 12:25 p.m. — it was listed in Eastern time, not Central — and he needed a police escort to get to the course with 10 minutes to spare. Then, he came up with key birdies to hand Keegan Bradley his first loss of the week.

The biggest match might have belonged to Justin Rose. He was on the verge of losing to Phil Mickelson when Rose holed a 12-foot par putt to halve the 16th, made a 35-foot birdie putt from the back of the 17th green to win the hole, and then closed out Mickelson with a 12-foot birdie on the last hole.

Six of the 12 matches went to the 18th hole on Sunday. The Americans won only one of them.

The Americans also rallied from a four-point deficit to win in 1999 at Brookline. This was different, though. The Americans won big in those early matches. At Medinah, so many of them could have gone either way.

It was so close, so tense, that either side could have won the Ryder Cup down to the very end.

Stricker made an 8-foot par putt on the 18th, and Kaymer faced a par putt from 6 feet to win the match. If he missed, the Americans would get a half-point, and Woods was leading 1-up over Molinari and in the middle of the 18th fairway.

Kaymer, a former No. 1 and major champion who has struggled all year, poured it in the middle and the celebration was on.

“It’s a feeling I never had before,” Kaymer said. “On Friday, I sat down with Bernhard and talked a little bit about the Ryder Cup because my attitude was not the right one. But now I know how important the Ryder Cup is.”

He could barely speak at this point, not so much from pure emotion but having to scream over the crowd behind him. Players were hugging and crying, and the small European contingent that had been drowned out all week was serenading themselves with what has become the theme song of the Ryder Cup.

“Ole, ole, ole, ole,” they sang merrily, even as the teams prepared for the closing ceremony.

Europe now has won seven of the last nine Ryder Cups, and even more remarkable about this comeback is that they did it on the road.

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