Well that was exciting. As dark descends on Medinah in Chicago we are left to a reflect on a truly remarkable turnaround as Team USA were beaten, after being 4 points ahead going into the crucial singles matches. I don't claim to be a golf fanatic but I do follow the 4 majors and of course the Ryder Cup- but it puzzles me how a player like Ian Poulter, 26 in the world, can dominate a team containing 4 of the world's top 5 players.(McIlroy, Donald, Westwood and Rose). Intriguing further are the average Ryder Cup records of established players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods in particular, will be blasted by the US media for not getting a single point.
Much has been made of the Seve Ballesteros connection to this Ryder Cup. Indeed, Europe's captain Jose Maria Olazabal, a great friend and playing partner of Ballesteros, said that his memory, wearing his colours on Sunday, and the general feeling of 'we'll do it for Seve' pushed his team over the line. His team certainly thought so, Sergio Garcia saying "Today, obviously, everything came right. I've no doubt in my mind that he [Seve] was with me today, all the way. There's no chance I would have won my match if he wasn't there." Francesco Molinari said "This image of Seve on our sleeves today really did make a difference". Olazabal really wanted to win it, but luckily he had Poulter on his side, the only European to have an 100% record.
Thoughts on Football
One thing that has really surprised me about this Premier League season so far is the (lack of) form of the two Manchester Club's defenses. City's impressive 3-0 win over Sunderland, was incredibly, their first clean sheet of the season, (don't let that embarrassing fact stop the English media continually refer to Joe hart as the best keeper in the world though.)
Roberto Mancini prizes clean sheets over anything else, which is why it was a surprise to see his team concede 8 goals in their first 6 games. Of course there are many reasons for this, one being Mancini messing about with a back 3 formation when 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 worked so well for City last year, and his reluctance to pick Joleon Lescott in the big games, plus the switching of full backs for no apparent reason. Of course, the squad Mancini has at his disposal means he can rotate without any real drop in quality, but even so, a settled back four is a crucial part of any team. Having said that, Vincent Kompany is a certain starter due to his titanic performances last term, yet he has arguably been the worst offender this season- most notably ducking under Cristiano Ronaldo's late winner in the Bernabeu.
