Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 25, 1995 TAG: 9509250128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROCHESTER, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium
His ball was in the rough and he desperately needed to get down in two for his European team to have a chance to defeat the United States.
One wedge shot and one putt later, Faldo had beaten Curtis Strange and the U.S. players were sitting in shocked silence as the Cup they could not lose was all but on the Concorde and headed for Europe.
It was Philip Walton who officially gave Europe a 141/2-131/2 victory when he closed out Jay Haas on the last hole of their match Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club, but it was Faldo who made the outcome a foregone conclusion.
Trailing 1-down with two holes to play, Faldo won them both when Strange made two bogeys and the Englishman made two pressure putts, giving Europe the crucial point.
``I was trying not to think whether my match was going to be the turning point, but I could sense it,'' Faldo said. ``I scrambled for two pars, but to try and play golf while you're nearly shaking, it's a different game. You really have to play from the heart. To do something here for the team, it's so emotional.''
At No.17, he made an eight-footer for par. Strange, who lost all three of his matches, missed a 12-footer.
Then at No.18, Faldo drove into the left rough and had no choice but to lay up. With about 93 yards to the green, he knocked a wedge shot to about four feet.
Strange also missed the green, chipped to about eight feet, and when he missed his par putt, Faldo won the match.
The point put Europe ahead 131/2-121/2 and meant the U.S. team needed to win Phil Mickelson's match with Per-Ulrik Johansson and halve the Haas-Walton match to keep the Cup with a 14-14 tie. At the time, Haas was 2-down with two to play.
``When Nick put that putt in at 17, then won at the last, I knew then we had won the Ryder Cup,'' teammate Ian Woosnam said.
It gave Europe the lead for the first time. The Europeans trailed 5-3 after the first day of alternate-shot and better-ball competition and 9-7 after Saturday's play.
``I just didn't finish very well,'' was all Strange could say.
Coming into Sunday's singles play, the Cup seemed like a lock for the United States. It hadn't been outscored in singles since 1985 and needed only five single victories to keep the Cup.
But only Mickelson, Tom Lehman, Davis Love and Corey Pavin were able to win. Pavin was the only player on either team to win four points.
``It's a great sporting accomplishment to come here as major underdogs,'' said Walton, the 10th and last man to qualify for the European team.
The victory gave Europe the Cup for the first time since 1989. It won in 1985 by upsetting the Americans in singles play by the same 71/2-41/2 score it did Sunday. Europe won it again in 1987 and kept the Cup with a tie in 1989 before losing the next two.
The United States leads the series 23-6 with two ties. But since the '85 victory by Europe, it is 3-2-1 in favor of Europe.
American captain Lanny Wadkins, who was criticized for making Strange one of his two captain's choices, defended the choice.
``You are looking at 13 very disappointed people,'' Wadkins said. ``I thought we'd retain the Cup. We lost as a team. I can't think of anything I would have done differently.''
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by CNB