GOLF/Seve Trophy: All around us, the geographical and meteorological indicators pointed to a tough old test. On any normal day, the Sugarloaf is the pointer for those driving off the 16th but, yesterday, as the day before, it was shrouded in thick, white clouds. And, almost everywhere, the waterproofs, the assortment of head gear and turtle-neck sweaters of players and spectators alike provided additional proof of the various battles with the elements which made the final day's play in the Seve Trophy something of a grind
In the end, the dominant position of Britain and Ireland going into the singles proved too much for Continental Europe to overturn. Although the continentals edged the singles, the only series of matches in the three days which they managed to win, it simply was a case of too little too late with B&I - in no small way inspired by a fruitful haul by the three Irish players in the team - taking this second staging of the event by a 14½-11½ margin.
On a grey old spring day, when Seve Ballesteros attempted to add some summer colour by re-creating some of his swashbuckling powers of recovery in defeating his opposing captain Colin Montgomerie, the Irish contribution was essential to the final outcome. All three - Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley - won their matches, although it was actually Lee Westwood's singles win, sandwiched in between, which provided the point of no return for the continentals.
Despite B&I's strong position at the start of the final day's play, some home hearts were caused to flutter when Ballesteros established a lead on Montgomerie that was never relinquished. The fact that the Spaniard hit just one fairway and found just two greens in regulation was irrelevant; it is simply his way. But the inspiration was passed back down the top order and, in the following three matches, his men took early initiatives with only Clarke eventually managing to turn things around from that particular segment of play.
Requiring three and a half points from 10 singles matches to take the bronze statuette from continental hands, B&I eventually got four and a half. "It was a harder battle than we thought it would be," admitted Mongomerie. But, still, there was a sense of inevitability about it all, and the job was finished when Clarke, Harrington, McGinley and Westwood all won their matches in comprehensive fashion, while Andrew Oldcorn, drafted into the team as a late replacement for David Howell who broke his arm in an accident last week, halved his match.
Of the four winners, Clarke had to do it the hardest way. He was one down to Thomas Bjorn after seven holes but turned the match around with a run of three birdies in four holes from the eighth. He was one-under-par when the match with the Dane finished on the 15th green, for a 4 and 3 win.
For a long, long time, Clarke's point was the only one coming B&I's way. In the first match, Ballesteros continued to confound Montgomerie. If it was a strokeplay round, Monty would have bettered the Spaniard by five strokes, 73 to 78. The beauty of matchplay, especially for Ballesteros, is that he can blow out on a hole, and still be in the match. So it was yesterday.
The only fairway which he found was the first, and, as if to underscore the unpredictability of a matchplay match involving Ballesteros, he lost the hole. The rest of the time was spent playing from rough, from under trees and from out of rough.
But once he went ahead for the first time - at the fourth, which he won in par - Ballesteros never fell behind again. At one stage, his lead was three holes and, although he wobbled with back-to-back bogeys at the 14th (where his tee-shot hit trees and finished on the ladies' tee box) and the 15th, he held on to claim another magical victory and be the only player in the match with a 100 per cent record.
It inspired those team-mates behind to look at the scoreboard as much as concentrate on their own matches. "It was quite interesting to know what was going on in Seve's match," said Jose Maria Olazabal, while Thomas Levet - who produced the best scoring golf of any singles match in beating Steve Webster - remarked: "In France, we say be careful of the injured lion . . . Seve is a bit injured but he proved he is still there and can still win. I hope he will be back soon." Inspired or not, the task facing the continentals was simply too great. Olazabal, for one, had no answer to the questions posed by Harrington. The Dubliner - who received treatment on an ankle injury throughout the event but managed to play all five matches - never trailed and was level par in claiming a 3 and 2 win, while McGinley fell behind on the first, levelled on the fourth, went ahead on the fifth and eventually eased to a 4 and 3 win over Mathias Gronberg.
Harrington was three up with three to play on Olazabal - with Clarke and McGinley having already secured their wins - when Westwood won his match over Jacquelin to guarantee B&I the victory, and a measure of revenge for their defeat in the opening match at Sunningdale two years ago. The end came in tame fashion. Westwood was two up playing the 16th where Jacquelin lost a ball in the heavy rough to the right of the fairway and that, as they say, was that.
Each of the B&I players trooped off with €150,000 each in their pockets; while the continentals had to settle for €90,000 apiece. Given the conditions, a tough course with wind and rain to complicate matters, it was money harder earned than in a normal tournament week. And, yet, the consensus among the players was that the future of the event was strengthened by the three days in the Wicklow hills.
