Colin Montgomerie lifted the Seve Trophy for a third successive time on Sunday -
despite losing his own singles yet again.
After being beaten by Seve Ballesteros at Sunningdale and Druids Glen
Montgomerie this time went down to new Continental Europe captain Jose Maria
Olazabal at The Wynyard near Middlesbrough.
But what really mattered to the Scot, who has never lost a Ryder Cup singles,
was that his Britain and Ireland side, with David Howell and wild card pick Paul
Casey the stars of the show along with Swede Henrik Stenson, ran out comfortable
16 1/2 to 11 1/2 winners.
And that after losing the opening fourballs 4-1.
Six of last year's Ryder Cup side were in Montgomerie's line-up while Olazabal
had only two and the home team were able to cope much better without Luke
Donald, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood than the Continentals were without Sergio
Garcia and Bernhard Langer.
"The team did really well to come back as they did - and did better than I
thought they would after that start," said Montgomerie. "Three wins in a row
is great."
As for his own game he added: "It was a bit flat really. I'm not saying I was
a bit stale, but I found myself more concerned with the scoreboard and there
seemed to be less riding on it than 21 years ago."
Montgomerie and Olazabal last went head-to-head in match play in the final of
the 1984 British amateur championship at Formby.
Olazabal, only 18 then, won that four and two to earn a trip to the Masters.
This time it was two and one, with Montgomerie not able to win a single hole
after the seventh and losing when the Spaniard hit the flagstick with his tee
shot to the 181-yard 17th.
They were the top game, but by then Britain and Ireland already had two more
points on the board and so led by three.
Howell was a spectacular seven under par in thrashing Thomas Bjorn six and
five, the biggest singles victory recorded since the competition began in 2000.
"I didn't realise the numbers were quite that good," said the Swindon
golfer, who kicked off with an eagle and added five birdies. "To beat Thomas is
a great win for me and I'm delighted."
Casey, who had already partnered Howell to three wins out of four on top of
their Ryder Cup triumph together a year ago, quickly followed with a four and
three victory over Niclas Fasth.
He may have lost his World Cup place to Howell with a fall down the world
rankings, but after a horrible run of missed cuts and high scores in mid-season
Casey is well and truly back on song.
Ulsterman Graeme McDowell then beat Maarten Lafeber five and four, being five
under and also underlining a talent which many think will bring a Ryder Cup
debut next September - in Ireland, of course.
Ian Poulter, who had an eventful week to say the least, made it 13-10 by
halving with Swede Peter Hanson.
On Thursday Poulter was criticised by Montgomerie for practising as play went
on. On Friday he apologised. On Saturday he showed his displeasure at being
asked to hole a short putt by Fasth and Henrik Stenson and refused to concede
anything afterwards.
And moments after shaking hands with Hanson today he was handed a letter from
Ballesteros.
But he was not alone in that - every player got one and it was presumably the
tournament host's explanation that he did not mean to be as critical of them as
some reports had made out.
That definitely took some explaining. It is a matter of record that he
commented over the weekend: "I don't see any players who really today impress
me from either side of the Atlantic to be honest. The last was Tiger Woods a
couple of years ago."
A number of players were enraged when they read the remarks, with Bjorn
commenting before the start: "There are 10 great matches with 20 great players
- even if Seve does not think so."
There were even rumours that some might not play in the inaugural Europe v
Asia match under Ballesteros' captaincy in January.
Poulter insisted he had not seen the comments and instead reflected on "a
good week. I think everybody enjoyed it.
"Some pairings have done well it should give Woosie (Ryder Cup captain Ian
Woosnam) some help come September."
Montgomerie and Olazabal are almost certainly future captains against the
Americans and on the seven-time European number one Poulter added: "He is a
good captain and I am sure he will do a great job when his turn comes around."
The only two players who had not won on the first three days were Welsh pair
Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge and, perhaps fittingly, they found success in
the singles.
Dodd beat Jean-Francois Remesy two and one and Dredge's victory over Thomas
Levet by the same margin ensured the trophy does not cross the channel.
It was a massive relief for him 48 hours after incurring a penalty for
carrying an extra club in his bag.
Paul McGinley added another point, but after Padraig Harrington had lost to
Emanuele Canonica 23-year-old Nick Dougherty agreed a half on the last with
Stenson, who like Howell and Casey finished with four points out of five. In his
case three wins and two halves.
Collated results of the final day singles
(Great Britain and Ireland names first, Great Britain and Ireland led 9 1/2-8 1/2 after first three days):
Colin Montgomerie lost to Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 2 and 1
Paul Casey bt Niclas Fasth (Swe) 4 and 3
Ian Poulter halved with Peter Hanson (Swe)
David Howell bt Thomas Bjorn (Den) 6 and 5
Stephen Dodd bt Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 2 and 1
Bradley Dredge bt Thomas Levet (Fra) 2 and 1
Graeme McDowell bt Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 5 and 4
Paul McGinley bt Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 1 hole
Padraig Harrington lost to Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 2 and 1
Nick Dougherty halved with Henrik Stenson (Swe)
Singles result: Great Britain and Ireland 7 Continental Europe 3
Match result: Great Britain and Ireland 16 1/2 Continental Europe 11 1/2
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