Just as in Brookline in 1999, Europe take a 10-6 lead into the final day of the Ryder Cup. The memories of Justin Leonard’s epic comeback on that Sunday afternoon still linger sufficiently with the European team to prevent any complacency from developing in their thoughts and behaviour. Paranoia aside, the European team has performed consistently better than the US over the first two days and only a remarkable change of form can deny them a third successive Ryder Cup victory.
The only glimmer of hope from the afternoon fourballs was the re-emergence of Woods & Furyk as a serious force and Tom Lehmann will be depending on them delivering two early points in the Sunday singles. For the fourth session in a row, Europe edged out the US by 2.5 points to 1.5 and this underlines the comprehensive and consistent superiority of the home side.
Sergio Garcia has emerged as the natural candidate to succeed Colin Montgomerie as the spiritual leader of the European team. His outstanding play coupled with his synergistic partnerships with Luke Donald and Jose Maria Olazabal has delivered four crucial points. For the second day running, Ian Woosnam used his entire team and all are in good shape to attack the challenge of the Sunday singles.
Technorati tags ryder cup, golf
