Shades of Seve from inspirational Garcia
By James Mossop
| Easy Ryder. With Sergio Garcia comes the exuberance of youth, a pure talent and a sense of comradeship crucial to the bonding of the European team. A huge sense of drama, too, none greater than on the par-five 16th hole during yesterday's afternoon foursomes at the K Club. It seemed that his partner, Luke Donald, had put him in an impossible position with the ball landing on wood-chippings, water to clear from an awful lie and little margin for error.
Suddenly the spectators were roaring in salute at the Garcia genius as he landed the ball 15 feet from the hole. Donald, his seamless partner, stepped up to sink the putt for birdie and the Americans, Phil Mickelson and David Toms were looking at defeat, two down and two holes to go. The Europeans closed it out 2 & 1. Garcia has won tournaments in the United States and Europe and has been in contention on the final day of majors but, he says, the Ryder Cup is the pinnacle of his sporting world. He won four and a half points in 2004 and when he birdied the first hole on Friday morning it was the signal of things to come. He let no one down, striding to victory first with his compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal and then with another friend, Luke Donald, the Englishman who shares his home in the Swiss Alpine town of Crans Montana whenever they play there in the European Masters. Garcia, an avid Real Madrid supporter, has brought football-style celebrations to the winning moment and the Irish people and his colleagues have embraced his sense of enthusiasm. He was back with Olazabal for yesterday morning's four-ball matches, recreating images of a previously successful Spanish partnership involving Seve Ballesteros and a young Jose Maria. Latin passion coloured their play. Their win made Garcia 3-0 for this year's event. Olazabal took yesterday afternoon off so that Garcia was reunited with his foursomes partner, Donald and there was no diminishing of the fun in all its intensity. You realise how much the Ryder Cup means to Garcia when you listen to him talking and he says: "It's the Ryder Cup. That's it. There is no better word. "I can't live without it. It makes for an unbelievable week. It is special because it is difficult to get into the team. Winning is definitely more satisfying than winning an individual event. "I have been fortunate enough to be in two winning Ryder Cup teams and the experiences I have had have been great. Even when we lost at Brookline [1999] it was great. I was just out on tour and got to know a lot of the players." Ballesteros was his original inspiration. Garcia went to see him after being selected for Brookline and Seve talked him through what to expect. It would be totally different to anything he had ever known, said the great man. It helped him settle into the pattern of the Ryder Cup after years of individual competition so that Garcia has become a formidable force and someone the latest captain, Ian Woosnam, has come to rely on as Bernhard Langer did before him. After watching Garcia excel with Olazabal and Donald, Woosie said: "Sergio just lifted his own game unbelievably which he always seems to do when he plays in the Ryder Cup. He has the spirit, the Spanish spirit, out there with Olazabal. What a great pairing. What can I say? Olazabal, senior partner in terms of age and experience – he is 40 to Garcia's 26 – remains full of praise for his partner, saying: "Despite age difference I have grown closer to him in the last few years. He has a young spirit. He is full of energy. He loves this event because of the whole atmosphere, the crowds, the team event." As they went out together again yesterday against Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco they were greeted as though they were the sons of Irish soil. Sergio birdied the 413-yard second to give Europe the lead, DiMarco brought the match back to all-square with a birdie at the short third but, emphasising the teamwork aspect, Olazabal put Europe back ahead, one up, with a birdie on the fourth. Inspiration was never very far away. Their dovetailing was memorable. They played with smiles while the struggling Americans frowned. When Olazabal birdied the short eighth, Garcia recruited his partner and his caddie, Glen Murray, for their advice on a putt of 10 feet on the ninth before holing it to move into the back nine three up. Olazabal, in his first Ryder Cup for seven years, was loving it. Mickelson had been off his game all morning, though frequently shaving the hole, but he found his touch with a birdie on the par-three 14th (213 yards) to peg back the rampant Spaniards. It was only a temporary setback. Garcia hit a brave shot to the 16th green from an area trampled by spectators to land in a bunker. He splashed out for a "gimme" and the Americans conceded with the hole halved in birdie fours. After a quick lunch Garcia was out with Donald again, taking on Mickelson and Toms. The Europeans went ahead when Mickelson found the water on the seventh and America ran up a double-bogey to Europe's par. Some of the fun left the Garcia-Donald partnership when Toms raked in couple of longish putts to wipe away Europe's two-hole lead. Tension had replaced humour and with four holes to go they were all square. Then normal service returned with Garcia's brilliance and Donald's solid support carrying Europe to another vital point. |
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