Whatever degree of momentum the Americans had enjoyed after Friday morning’s dramatic foursomes sweep had long been exhausted when Lee Westwood and Danny Willett teed off Saturday’s fourball match against JB Holmes and Ryan Moore beneath a cloudless sky and baking Minnesota sun.
But after Westwood agonisingly missed a three-foot gimme on the 18th that cost Europe a half-point, it appears the visitors will again be in need of a miracle if they hope to retain the Ryder Cup they have held since Celtic Manor in 2010.
The furore about Willett, who found himself the target of the spectators’ enmity on Friday thanks to his brother’s midweek screed that branded American fans a “baying mob of imbeciles” had thankfully subsided by Saturday afternoon and the Masters champion appeared looser on the course. He made birdies on two of the first four holes, including a beautifully struck chip in from the rough on the 2nd that rattled the pin before settling at the bottom of the cup.
Westwood, the old war horse from Nottinghamshire whose 10 Ryder Cup appearances have included seven team victories, had looked completely out of sorts alongside Thomas Pieters in Friday’s lopsided foursomes loss to the US Open champion, Dustin Johnson, and the Olympic bronze medallist, Matt Kuchar. Westwood pulled himself from the first day’s afternoon pairings, opting to spend time on the range with his coach, Pete Cowen, with a hope of re-entering the team on day two– and for a stretch on Saturday it seemed the extra work paid off.
The former world No1 rattled off three straight birdies: first on the 5th where he was matched by Holmes, then on the 6th where Moore saved the half, and finally the 7th, where he rattled home a birdie putt from 40 feet to open up a match that had been all square through the opening third.
Most of the enmity that had been reserved for Willett had seemed to be transferred to Rory McIlroy, who stared down a series of hecklers on the front nine while partnering Thomas Pieters yet again to see off Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson and draw Europe even at 6½-6½. For the moment the visitors’ comeback from 0-4 down was complete. But with the Phil Mickelson-Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed-Jordan Spieth pairings leading their matches in progress, the pressure facing Willett and Westwood only redoubled as their match loomed as a crucial decider.
Willett and Westwood never led by more than one hole throughout the afternoon and Holmes’s birdie on the 13th returned the Americans to level terms. Willett left an eagle putt short on the 16th, but made the follow-up to match Holmes’s birdie and save the half and the match was all square with two holes to go.
Willett’s sangfroid was beyond dispute after his final-day resolve at Augusta saw him become the first Englishman to win the Masters in two decades, but an untimely blink on the tricky par-three 17th set the stage for a dramatic collapse.
Moore had made a sensational birdie to bail out Holmes, whose tee shot found the lake. Willett’s tee shot landed on the first cut of the green near the back, but his chip landed way short and left him with a 10ft putt that he missed right. Westwood, whose putting had betrayed him, was then off target with a downhill five-footer and suddenly the Americans were in the lead for the first time all afternoon heading to the 18th.
It was a gift from the Europeans – but fortunately the Americans were in the mood to reciprocate after butchering their tee shots on the final hole. Willett’s misery was doubled after he dumped his tee shot into a bunker, but he responded with a magnificent pitch that landed within 12 feet of the hole. Alas, he pushed it right of the mark.
That left Westwood, who had a 4ft putt for a birdie that would have split the match. But in a moment that could very well be remembered as pivotal if USA do in fact end their Ryder Cup drought on Sunday, Westwood missed.
“We had our chances,” a downcast Willett said. “We couldn’t hole the putts at the right time. There’s that little bit extra pressure here. It’s just a shame. The job at hand is to try and win all 12 matches tomorrow. If you look at the scoreboard, no one’s at 14½ yet.”
Only an hour earlier Europe were within touching distance of entering Sunday’s singles deadlocked at 8-8. Now the Americans will lead 9½-6½ going into the 12-match finale – and tantalisingly close to reclaiming the trophy on home soil.
