1999 Ryder Cup
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| Dates | September 24–26, 1999 | ||||
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| Venue | The Country Club | ||||
| Location | Brookline, Massachusetts | ||||
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| United States wins the Ryder Cup | |||||
The 33rd Ryder Cup Matches, also known as the "Battle of Brookline", were held September 24–26, 1999, in the United States at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb southwest of Boston.
The American team won the competition by a margin of 14½ to 13½, The Europeans, leading 10–6 heading into the final round, needed only 4 points on the final day to retain the cup. The Americans rallied on the Sunday, winning the first 6 matches of the day to surge into the lead. Further wins by Steve Pate and Jim Furyk took them into a 14–12 lead. The Americans recaptured the Ryder Cup when Justin Leonard halved his match with José María Olazábal. With the match all-square Leonard holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. Olazabal then missed his 22-foot birdie putt to leave Leonard one up with just one hole to play, assuring him of a half point and guaranteeing an American victory.
The behavior of the U.S. team was criticized after they raucously invaded the 17th green after Leonard had holed his long putt but before Olazábal had attempted his shorter putt. The incident which was viewed by many as appalling sportsmanship. Veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke described the last day of the tournament as "a date that will live in infamy" in a Letter from America entitled "The arrival of the golf hooligan".
The American win was the largest final day come-from-behind victory in Ryder Cup history, although Europe achieved the same feat in 2012. It is widely regarded as one of the most impressive come-from-behind victories in recent sports history.
This was one of the last public appearances of Payne Stewart, who died in a plane crash less than a month later.
Members of the U.S. team spoke out in press conferences in what appeared to be a blatant attempt to bait certain members of the European team into a confrontational response.Jeff Maggert being one of the worst offenders when (at the time ranked 18 in the world) lavishly and outspokenly said "lets face it, we've got the worlds' 12 best players". Colin Montgomerie was one of the first to respond detailing "You want someone to bite?, well I'm not going to!"Payne Stewart also claimed by the strength of the European team, they should be caddying for the U.S. team not playing against them.
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