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Irishmen who have clinched the cup

GOLF: Irishmen who have lifted the Ryder cup

Tue Oct 05 2010 - 01:00

GOLF:Irishmen who have lifted the Ryder cup

1987 – Muirfield Village

EAMONN DARCY

Playing in the crucial bottom order singles against Ben Crenshaw, Darcy faced a vicious downhill putt at the 18th hole. Had he missed it, it would likely have rolled all the way off the green.

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But the man from Wicklow held his nerve, sank the putt and ensured that Europe – who needed 14 points to retain the trophy – couldn’t lose the match. Europe went on to record a historic 15-13 win, their first on American soil and against a team captained by Jack Nicklaus.

Crenshaw had played much of the match using a sandwedge to putt out, after he broke his putter in a fit of pique.

1989 – The Belfry

CHRISTY O’CONNOR JNR

Selected as a wild card by captain Tony Jacklin, O’Connor was pitched against Fred Couples, the poster boy of the US team, and given little chance. He was to prove his doubters well and truly wrong, and quite sensationally so when hitting a two-iron from 240 yards over the lake to the 18th green to win the hole and claim a valued win. It left O’Connor in tears as he saluted the ecstatic crowds around the final green.

1995 – Oak Hill Country Club

PHILIP WALTON

After the heroics up ahead of Nick Faldo and Sam Torrance, the arrival of players from both teams to watch the conclusion of Philip Walton’s match with Jay Haas left him in no doubt as to its importance. “Oh Jaysus,” he thought at the time, “everything is down to me.” But Walton was to prove up to the task, hitting a five-wood approach from rough on the 18th to greenside rough and then getting up and down for a par which ensured Europe won 14.5-13.5.

2002 – The Belfry

PAUL McGINLEY

The Dubliner had won the World Cup with Pádraig Harrington in 1997 and was a hardened pro when he made his debut. McGinley, who’d played some of the best golf of his career in 2001 to make the team for a match which was put back a year due to the September 11th attacks in the US, showed his love of team competition to defeat Jim Furyk, holing a tricky 10-footer on the 18th to seal the win for Europe.