THIRD SESSION FOURSOMES:SAM TORRANCE, that wily Scot, used to refer to heroes emerging from the shadows. But there are other kinds, too. What of those who must stand in the full glare, shoulder the weight of expectation, and manage to deliver?
What of Lee Westwood, a man who had spent much of the past two months away from golf pumping weights and getting treatment on an injured calf muscle? In that time, while he recuperated in Portugal and lost 17 lb in weight after forgoing any alcoholic drink and taking to green tea or such beverages instead, Westwood - who has climbed to number two in the latest official world rankings - shrank in size but stayed focused on being in shape for this Ryder Cup. Yesterday, Westwood was again immense.
In partnering Luke Donald - a player who has not lost a foursomes in any Ryder Cup match he has played since debuting in 2004 - to a 6 and 5 win over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, Westwood was the embodiment of this European team.
Westwood, in fact, became an artist and psychologist rolled into one in an attempt to get a message across to his team-mates before they resumed play on the sodden Twenty Ten course yesterday. He wrote a message and taped it over the exit door of the team locker room so that each player was left aware of the fact that, although they led in six matches unfinished from Saturday evening, that the hard work still had to be done. The message warned his team-mates that the US would start fast, and that it was up to them to start faster.
Actions, of course, speak louder than words. And Westwood, in typical fashion, combined with Donald to practice what he preached. Although Woods and Stricker - an unbeatable partnership in the Presidents Cup - had won the ninth hole on Saturday evening to reduce the deficit to four holes, the European pair responded yesterday with a birdie-birdie-birdie blitz over the first three holes to effectively blow the vaunted US duo away.
Indeed, the 6 and 5 defeat represented the biggest loss ever suffered by Woods in the Ryder Cup, since his debut at Valderrama in 1997 - and gave him his first loss of this match.
Of the implication that he would be considered the so-called "main man" on the team, Westwood was having none of it. "First and foremost, there are 12 main men on this team. It's a very strong team all the way through . . . . I think what he is referring to is the fact that I've played the most Ryder Cups of anybody and he just wanted somebody to set the tone for the days."
If Westwood took on the role with some aplomb, so too did Graeme McDowell. The man known has G-Mac has grown and grown in stature since his US Open win and, in teaming up with Rory McIlroy for a hugely impressive 3 and 1 win over Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan, confirmed an inner fortitude that only the great players possess.
The McDowell-McIlroy pairing had walked on shaky ground in the first two sessions, but patience proved to be a virtue. The win was an accomplished one, where they held the advantage from the first hole on Saturday. And if fate seemed to slap them in the face when Johnson holed a raker on the eighth green to reduce the deficit to two holes, the two Ulstermen never faltered.
By the time they reached the drivable par-four 15th , they were three up - and the two combined, McIlroy chipping and McDowell putting, for an unlikely birdie to halve the hole - and, even after losing the 16th to another birdie, their response on the 17th was impeccable. McDowell hit his tee shot to 15 feet, and McIlroy rolled in the putt to cause an eruption that rocked the valleys. Having hooked up together for the first three sessions, the partnership must go their separate ways for today's singles. "I'm going to miss him, but I know he'll be doing his job and I'll be doing mine . . . . it's been great, everything we imagined it could be," said McDowell.
