2004 Ryder Cup

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35th Ryder Cup Matches
RyderCup2004Logo.jpg
Dates   September 17–19
Venue   Oakland Hills Country Club
Location   Bloomfield Township, Michigan
Captains   Hal Sutton (US)
Bernhard Langer (EU)
Flag of the United States  9½   18½  Flag of Europe
Europe retains the Ryder Cup
«2002 2006»

The 35th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 17–19 at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. The European team won the competition by a margin of 18½ to 9½ points, the winning putt being made by Colin Montgomerie,[1] who maintained his record of never losing in any of his seven Ryder Cup singles matches. The victory margin was the largest by a European team in the history of the event, and the largest by either side since 1981, when Team USA defeated Team Europe by the same score. It was also the largest margin of defeat for the USA on home soil.

Contents

[edit] Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format changed slightly from used from that used from 1991 to 2002, with the order of play swapped on the second day:

  • Day 1 (Friday) — 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 four-ball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 3 (Sunday) — 12 singles matches

With a total of 28 points, 14½ points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

[edit] Teams

Flag of the United States.svg   Team USA
Name Residence Notes
Hal Sutton Shreveport, Louisiana Non-playing captain
Chad Campbell Lewisville, Texas Seventh in Cup points
Stewart Cink Duluth, Georgia Captain's Pick
Chris DiMarco Orlando, Florida Eighth in Cup points
Fred Funk Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Ninth in Cup points
Jim Furyk Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Fourth in Cup points
Jay Haas Greenville, South Carolina Captain's Pick
Davis Love III Sea Island, Georgia Third in Cup points
Phil Mickelson Rancho Santa Fe, California Second in Cup points
Kenny Perry Franklin, Kentucky Fifth in Cup points
Chris Riley Las Vegas, Nevada Tenth in Cup points
Makes Cup debut
David Toms Shreveport, Louisiana Sixth in Cup points
Tiger Woods Windermere, Florida First in Cup points


Flag of Europe.svg   Team Europe
Name Residence Notes
Germany Bernhard Langer Anhausen, Germany
Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Non-playing captain
England Paul Casey Weybridge, England, UK
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
Eighth in World points
Sixth in Cup points
Northern Ireland Darren Clarke Chobham, England, UK Third in World and Cup points
England Luke Donald High Wycombe, England, UK
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Ninth in World points
Captain's Pick
Spain Sergio García Borriol, Spain Second in World points
23rd in Cup points
Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington Dublin, Ireland First in World points
Fifth in Cup points
England David Howell Weybridge, England, UK 13th in World points
Seventh in Cup points
Makes Cup debut
Spain Miguel Ángel Jiménez Málaga, Spain Fourth in World points
First in Cup points
France Thomas Levet Warfield, England, UK Seventh in World points
Fourth in Cup points
Republic of Ireland Paul McGinley Sunningdale, England, UK Eleventh in World points
Eighth in Cup points
Scotland Colin Montgomerie Troon, Scotland, UK 19th in World points
16th in Cup points
Captain's Pick
England Ian Poulter Milton Keynes, England, UK Tenth in World points
Ninth in Cup points
England Lee Westwood Worksop, England, UK Fifth in World points
Second in Cup points

[edit] Thursday practice

[edit] Friday's matches

[edit] Morning four-ball

U.S. captain Hal Sutton put his top pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the first match of the Ryder Cup, hoping to come out to a quick lead. The decision backfired on Sutton, as the Woods/Mickelson pairing fell behind almost from the start, eventually losing. Only a 7-foot par putt by Chris Riley on the 18th hole of his match kept Team USA from being shut out by Team Europe. Team USA never had the lead during any of the first day's four-ball matches.

United States Results European Union
Woods/Mickelson European Union 2 & 1 Montgomerie/Harrington
Love III/Campbell European Union 5 & 4 Clarke/Jiménez
Riley/Cink halved McGinley/Donald
Toms/Furyk European Union 4 & 3 García/Westwood
½ Session
½ Overall

[edit] Afternoon foursomes

The afternoon alternate-shot session was almost as good for Team Europe as the morning session. Mickelson and Woods lost an early lead in their match, leaving Woods winless in the first day of his last three Ryder Cups. Team USA picked up its first full point, but Europe ended the day with a 6½–1½ lead, its largest lead after the first day in Ryder Cup history.

United States Results European Union
Haas/DiMarco United States 3 & 2 Jiménez/Levet
Love III/Funk European Union 4 & 2 Harrington/Montgomerie
Mickelson/Woods European Union 1 up Clarke/Westwood
Perry/Cink European Union 2 & 1 Donald/García
1 Session 3
Overall

[edit] Saturday's matches

[edit] Morning four-ball

United States Results European Union
Haas/DiMarco halved García/Westwood
Riley/Woods United States 4 & 3 Clarke/Poulter
Campbell/Furyk European Union 1 up Casey/Howell
Cink/Love III United States 3 & 2 Harrington/Montgomerie
Session
4 Overall 8

[edit] Afternoon foursomes

United States Results European Union
Haas/DiMarco European Union 5 & 4 Clarke/Westwood
Mickelson/Toms United States 4 & 3 Jiménez/Levet
Furyk/Funk European Union 1 up Donald/García
Love III/Woods European Union 4 & 3 Harrington/McGinley
1 Session 3
5 Overall 11

[edit] Sunday's singles matches

United States Results European Union
Tiger Woods United States 3 & 2 Paul Casey
Phil Mickelson European Union 3 & 2 Sergio García
Davis Love III halved Darren Clarke
Jim Furyk United States 6 & 4 David Howell
Kenny Perry European Union 1 up Lee Westwood
David Toms European Union 1 up Colin Montgomerie
Chad Campbell United States 5 & 3 Luke Donald
Chris DiMarco United States 1 up Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Fred Funk European Union 1 up Thomas Levet
Chris Riley European Union 3 & 2 Ian Poulter
Jay Haas European Union 1 up Pádraig Harrington
Stewart Cink European Union 3 & 2 Paul McGinley
Session
Overall 18½

[edit] References

  1. ^ Montgomerie is widely credited as having holed the winning putt, although Ian Poulter birdied on the 15th hole of his match to guarantee a half point and so mathematically win the Ryder Cup seconds before Montgomerie. This was commentated on by course commentators and BBC Radio 5 Live, whose Golf correspondent Ian Coulter recalled in the News of the World: "My editor said Poulter was three up seconds before Monty hit his putt. Then Colin's putt went in - you can imagine the situation. To have over-ruled his achievement would have been like trying to deny Alan Shearer a goal that went in off a defender." "This man won us Ryder Cup - not Monty" News of the World (London); Sep 26, 2004; Geoff Sweet; p. 75. Frank Keating of The Guardian also noted this chain of events, writing "radio logged the fact that it was not Montgomerie's putt which actually clinched the cup but Poulter's, a matter of seconds before and a few holes behind." "Golf, Cricket: Notes from the touchline" The Guardian (Manchester); Sep 24, 2004; Frank Keating; p. 34. Notwithstanding, Poulter was still in a Dormie position at this time (3 holes up with 3 to play) and players in this position can still be disqualified and thus lose their match. A similar situation took place 2 years later.