Europe beat US, win Ryder Cup
Europe retained the Ryder Cup in emphatic style as they beat the US on Sunday with a record-equalling 18-and-a-half points to nine-and-a-half points margin at the K Club in Ireland to claim the trophy for a record third successive time.
Europes eight-time Ryder Cup talisman Colin Montgomerie kicked off the final day in torrential rain against David Toms. The Scot won one up at the 18th, having never been behind.
Spaniard Sergio Garcia, bidding to win all five matches, went off second but came home before Montgomerie after a 4&3 defeat by the in-form Stewart Cink, who fired seven birdies.
More : ibnlive.com
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Arsenal win could mean Europe
Manchester United and Arsenal picked up ground on runaway-leader Chelsea on Saturday.
The Red Devils defeated West Brom 2-1 with two goals from Louis Saha, moving within 12 points of the Blues in the English Premiership.
Arsenal took temporary possession of fourth place - the final qualifying spot for the Champions League - with a 3-0 win over Charlton.
Robert Pires, Emmanuel Adebayor and Aleksander Hleb scored.
Also on Saturday, Everton beat Aston Villa 4-1; Blackburn beat Middlesbrough 3-2; Bolton beat Sunderland 2-0; Wigan beat Manchester City 1-0; and Portsmouth beat West Ham 4-2.
More: news24.com
US practice upsets Ryder Cup fans
The United States team were booed by frustrated spectators as strong winds disrupted their plans on the second day of practice for the Ryder Cup.
The US team, playing as a group of 12 rather than in pairs, chose not to play off tees at the longer holes, preferring to work on approach shots.
The decision meant they disappointed the fans waiting at the first tee.
We left everybody sitting in the stands by the first tee waiting. It was a mistake, said US captain Tom Lehman.
More : news.bbc.co.uk
COLUMN-Europe enjoy rare world ranking advantage for Cup
The United States, on paper, have always gone into the Ryder Cup as overwhelming favourites.
They usually enjoy a virtual monopoly on major champions and have boasted the stronger line-up, partly because world rankings have favoured PGA Tour events over European tournaments.
This year, however, is likely to be very different.
If the 36th Ryder Cup was to be contested by teams based on this weeks points standings, the Europeans would start as the heavily fancied contenders.
Not only have they won four of the last five matches but, most surprisingly, they would
Ideal start for Europes Cup squad
European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam has opted to begin the match against the U.S. at the K Club, Ireland, from September 22-24 with the fourballs format.
Woosnam, whose prerogative it is as home captain to decide, has also chosen to play fourballs, where both players play the hole and the best score counts, on the Saturday morning.
After four fourballs and four foursomes on each day, the match concludes with 12 singles on the Sunday.
Since Seve Ballesteros introduced the idea in 1997 at Valderrama, Spain, the Europeans have favored starting with fourballs, which they feel is
Teamwork and tears as Europe celebrates
Darren Clarke provided the emotion, Colin Montgomerie the leadership and Sergio Garcia the inspirational golf as the Europeans handed the Americans another lopsided Ryder Cup beating.
Ian Woosnams players scored a 18½-9½ triumph on Sunday to make it three victories in a row and five of the last six.
If it wasnt for a very difficult Sunday at Brookline, wed have been six out of six, Montgomerie said. So thats fairly dominant.
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