Moment in time Brookline 1999Philip Reid looks back on the Battle of Brookline when American players and spectators lost the run of themselves

On the Saturday night of the 1999 Ryder Cup match at the Country Club in Brookline, the United States team captain, Ben Crenshaw, ushered his friend George W Bush into the team room. It wasn't a particularly happy room, as, after two days of play and with only the singles remaining, the Europeans held a 10-6 lead that had the home team, without a win since 1993, facing the prospect of a third successive defeat.

Prior to leaving the course that Saturday, Crenshaw had insisted that he hadn't given up hope of an American revival. "I'm a big believer in fate, I have a good feeling about this," he said. "That's all I am going to tell you."

Bringing the future President of the United States into the US team room was Crenshaw's trump card, a ploy to galvanise his men. Bush recited the letter from William Barret Travis to "To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World". Travis was the commander of the small Texas force that held off, but was ultimately wiped out by the Mexican army at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 when Texas was fighting to become an independent republic.

In the letter, Travis wrote: "I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for 24 hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded surrender at discretion, otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. VICTORY OR DEATH." These were the words that Bush spoke to Crenshaw's team.

For the previous two days, the Brookline crowds had been extremely quiet, with just a couple of incidents of spectators heckling European players. Colin Montgomerie, going through a phase in America where he was depicted as "Mrs Doubtfire," a character played by the actor Robin Williams in a film of that name, incurred most of the abuse. On the Saturday morning, after being heckled on the sixth green, he sank a six-foot putt to win the hole and then thrust his fist towards the bleachers while, later, Miguel Angel Jimenez had to step away from a putt after someone yelled as he prepared to hit the ball. He regrouped, addressed the ball again, but missed the putt and the match was halved.

On the Sunday morning, it was apparent that the atmosphere had changed. As American players walked to the first tee, they were met with a boisterousness that had been absent the previous two days. And Crenshaw knew the importance of striking early, putting down a marker. He sent out his top six players in the top six matches, and it paid off in a big way.

Lehman got it started with a 3 and 2 win over Westwood. Then Love, who hadn't had a win since the 1995 matches, routed Jean Van de Velde 6 and 5. After Mickelson defeated Jarmo Sandelin 4 and 3 and Sutton downed Clarke 4 and 2, the US had pulled even. Duval, who had grumbled about not getting paid for the Ryder Cup, which he labelled an "exhibition," forgot all that as he exhorted the already-rowdy fans to more cheers in dismantling Parnevik 5 and 4. Then the talisman Woods put the US ahead by two with a 3 and 2 win on Andrew Coltart.

With each win, the frenzied crowd grew louder and louder. Chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" resounded around the course as the fightback gained momentum and the United States edged closer to victory. Unfortunately for them, the win when it came was sullied. The singles match between Jose Maria Olazabal and Justin Leonard provided the decisive moment of the 1999 match.

Olazabal led by four with six holes remaining, but Leonard reeled off a run of par-par-birdie-birdie to win the next four holes to square the match.

All that the United States required to win the match was a half from Leonard. Both players were on the 17th in regulation twos: Leonard 45 feet from the hole, Olazabal 20 feet away. Leonard didn't seem to have a realistic chance of sinking his putt, and appeared to have hit it too hard. But the ball rammed the back of the hole and fell in for a birdie. It prompted a charge onto the green by watching players, wives and caddies before Olazabal had a chance to hole his own birdie putt. When he eventually got to take his putt, he missed; and America had won.

Europe's captain Mark James, whose wife was spat at while out on the course on the final day, said the incidents left a "bitter taste" adding, "if I had been playing myself, I might have lost my temper completely . . . cheering when you miss putts or hit shots into bunkers is one thing. But personal abuse is something different." The upshot of the Battle of Brookline, as it was to be called, was that captains in subsequent Ryder Cup matches called for a code of etiquette for spectators.