Ryder success

Not surprisingly, the weather played an integral part in the proceedings, ranging from miserable to magnificent in the short space of four days. 

What was surprising was that the U.S. won the fashion prize, easily out-doing the Europeans, with credit for that victory going to Mrs. Pavin. 

The two spoilers of my Ryder Cup prediction were Eduardo Mollinari and Padraig Harrington. 

Mollinari was four up on Ricky Fowler with five holes to play, and three up with three holes to play.

All he had to do was get a half on any one of the last three holes and the full point would have been his. 

To make matters even simpler, up to this point, Fowler had had a poor Ryder Cup debut, including a rather embarrassing rules violation in one of the foursome matches. 

Could Mollinari get the half and win the full point to keep my prediction intact?

No, he could not — although to be fair, Fowler played the last three holes like the champion golfer he is destined to become. 

The impact on my prediction was the loss of half a point.

Useless

The real scoundrel in spoiling my prediction was Padraig Harrington, who, quite frankly, was useless most of the week. 

In their singles match, Zach Johnson made Harrington look rather ordinary which he has been all year.

Why Montgomerie picked him over Paul Casey or Justin Rose will be one of the unanswered questions of this Ryder Cup — but only because the Europeans won. 

Had they not won, Monty would have been heavily criticised for his selection of Harrington, however, because he did select him, it was a full point lost for my prediction.

In the end, the Europeans won the Cup by the narrowest of margins, thanks perhaps to Hunter Mahan succumbing to the pressure of being the last man standing for the Americans.

Mahan was pitted against the U.S. Open champion, Irishman Graeme McDowell, in the very last singles match, with the whole dang Ryder Cup hanging in the balance of that last match. 

Both McDowell and Mahan must have had their hearts in their throats, both knowing that whoever threw up first would have to live with the loss of the Ryder Cup on their shoulders, while the other would be the hero. 

As it happened, it was Mahan who blinked first, thus allowing the Europeans to win by a score of 14.5 to 13.5.

In less than two weeks, McDowell, along with Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer will be in Bermuda to play in the PGA Grand Slam.

McDowell and Kaymer were members of the victorious European Ryder Cup team and I’m sure this will make their trip here even more special.