The 35th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 17–19, 2004, in the United States at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit.
The European team won the competition by a margin of 18 to 9 points,Montgomerie is widely credited as having holed the winning putt, although Ian Poulter birdied on the 15th hole of his match to guarantee a half point and so mathematically win the Ryder Cup seconds before Montgomerie. This was commentated on by course commentators and BBC Radio 5 Live, whose Golf correspondent Ian Carter recalled in the News of the World: "My editor said Poulter was three up seconds before Monty hit his putt. Then Colin's putt went in - you can imagine the situation. To have overruled his achievement would have been like trying to deny Alan Shearer a goal that went in off a defender." "This man won us Ryder Cup - not Monty" News of the World (London); September 26, 2004; Geoff Sweet; p. 75. Frank Keating of The Guardian also noted this chain of events, writing "radio logged the fact that it was not Montgomerie's putt which actually clinched the cup but Poulter's, a matter of seconds before and a few holes behind." "Golf, Cricket: Notes from the touchline" The Guardian (Manchester); Sep 24, 2004; Frank Keating; p. 34. Notwithstanding, Poulter was still in a Dormie position at this time (3 holes up with 3 to play) and players in this position can still be disqualified and thus lose their match. A similar situation took place 2 years later. The victory margin was the largest by a European team in the history of the event, and the largest by either side since 1981, when Team USA defeated Team Europe by the same score. It was also the largest margin of defeat for the USA since the competition started in 1927.
Television In the United States, live Friday coverage was provided by USA Network. Bill Macatee and Peter Kostis hosted from the 18th tower. NBC Sports presented live coverage of the Saturday and Sunday matches. Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller hosted from the 18th tower, Bob Murphy called holes, while on-course reporters were Gary Koch, Mark Rolfing, Roger Maltbie, and Ed Sneed.
Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format changed slightly from used from that used from 1991 to 2002, with the order of play swapped on the second day: Day 1 (Friday) — 4 fourball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 fourball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session Day 3 (Sunday) — 12 singles matches With a total of 28 points, 14 points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.
Teams Team USANameAgeResidencePointsrankWorldrankingPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageHal Sutton 47 Shreveport, Louisiana Non-playing captainTiger Woods 28 Windermere, Florida 1 2 3 15 5–8–2 40.00Phil Mickelson 34 Rancho Santa Fe, California 2 4 4 16 8–5–3 59.38Davis Love III 40 Sea Island, Georgia 3 6 5 21 8–9–4 47.62Jim Furyk 34 Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 4 11 3 11 3–6–2 36.36Kenny Perry 44 Franklin, Kentucky 5 16 0 RookieDavid Toms 37 Shreveport, Louisiana 6 22 1 5 3–1–1 70.00Chad Campbell 30 Lewisville, Texas 7 14 0 RookieChris DiMarco 36 Orlando, Florida 8 17 0 RookieFred Funk 48 Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 9 59 0 RookieChris Riley 30 Las Vegas, Nevada 10 40 0 RookieJay Haas 50 Greenville, South Carolina 12 23 2 8 3–4–1 43.75Stewart Cink 31 Duluth, Georgia 14 10 1 3 1–2–0 33.33
Captains picks are shown in yellow; the world rankings and records are at the start of the 2004 Ryder Cup.
As vice-captains, United States captain Hal Sutton selected Jack Burke and Steve Jones, to assist him during the tournament.
Team EuropeNameAgeResidencePoints rank(World)Points rank(European)WorldrankingPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Bernhard Langer 47 Anhausen, GermanyBoca Raton, Florida, USA Non-playing captain Pádraig Harrington 33 Dublin, Ireland 1 5 8 2 7 3–3–1 50.00 Sergio García 24 Borriol, Spain 2 23 12 2 10 6–3–1 65.00 Darren Clarke 36 Chobham, England 3 3 15 3 12 4–6–2 41.67 Miguel Ángel Jiménez 40 Málaga, Spain 4 1 20 1 5 1–2–2 40.00 Lee Westwood 31 Worksop, England 5 2 41 3 15 7–8–0 46.67 Thomas Levet 36 Warfield, England 7 4 43 0 Rookie Paul Casey 27 Weybridge, EnglandScottsdale, Arizona, USA 8 6 27 0 Rookie David Howell 29 Weybridge, England 13 7 38 0 Rookie Paul McGinley 37 Sunningdale, England 11 8 67 1 3 0–1–2 33.33 Ian Poulter 28 Milton Keynes, England 10 9 60 0 Rookie Luke Donald 26 High Wycombe, EnglandChicago, Illinois, USA 9 36 36 0 Rookie Colin Montgomerie 41 Troon, Scotland 19 16 62 6 28 16–7–5 66.07
Captains picks are shown in yellow; the world rankings and records are at the start of the 2004 Ryder Cup.
As vice-captains, European captain Bernhard Langer selected Joakim Haeggman and Anders Forsbrand to assist him during the tournament.
Thursday practice
Friday's matches Morning four-ball U.S. captain Hal Sutton put his top pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the first match of the Ryder Cup, hoping to come out to a quick lead. The decision backfired on Sutton, as the Woods/Mickelson pairing fell behind almost from the start, eventually losing. Only a 7-foot par putt by Chris Riley on the 18th hole of his match kept Team USA from being shut out by Team Europe. Team USA never had the lead during any of the first day's four-ball matches.
Results Montgomerie/Harrington 2 & 1Mickelson/WoodsClarke/Jiménez 5 & 4Campbell/Love IIIMcGinley/DonaldhalvedRiley/CinkGarcía/Westwood 4 & 3Toms/Furyk 3 Session 3 Overall
Afternoon foursomes The afternoon alternate-shot session was almost as good for Team Europe as the morning session. Mickelson and Woods lost an early lead in their match, leaving Woods winless in the first day of his last three Ryder Cups. Team USA picked up its first full point, but Europe ended the day with a 6–1 lead, its largest lead after the first day in Ryder Cup history. Results Jiménez/Levet 3 & 2DiMarco/HaasMontgomerie/Harrington 4 & 2Love III/FunkClarke/Westwood 1 upMickelson/WoodsGarcía/Donald 2 & 1Perry/Cink 3 Session 1 6 Overall 1
Saturday's matches Morning four-ball Results García/WestwoodhalvedHaas/DiMarcoClarke/Poulter 4 & 3Woods/RileyCasey/Howell 1 upFuryk/CampbellMontgomerie/Harrington 3 & 2Cink/Love III 1 Session 2 8 Overall 4
Afternoon foursomes Results Clarke/Westwood 5 & 4Haas/DiMarcoJiménez/Levet 4 & 3Mickelson/TomsGarcía/Donald 1 upFuryk/FunkHarrington/McGinley 4 & 3Love III/Woods 3 Session 1 11 Overall 5
Sunday's singles matches Results Paul Casey 3 & 2Tiger WoodsSergio García 3 & 2Phil MickelsonDarren ClarkehalvedDavis Love IIIDavid Howell 6 & 4Jim FurykLee Westwood 1 upKenny PerryColin Montgomerie 1 upDavid TomsLuke Donald 5 & 3Chad CampbellMiguel Ángel Jiménez 1 upChris DiMarcoThomas Levet 1 upFred FunkIan Poulter 3 & 2Chris RileyPádraig Harrington 1 upJay HaasPaul McGinley 3 & 2Stewart Cink 7 Session 4 18 Overall 9
Individual player records Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source:
United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsChad Campbell 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–2–0Stewart Cink 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–1Chris DiMarco 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–1Fred Funk 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–0–0Jim Furyk 1 1–3–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–2–0Jay Haas 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–0–1Davis Love III 1.5 1–3–1 0–0–1 0–2–0 1–1–0Phil Mickelson 1 1–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–1–0Kenny Perry 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Chris Riley 1.5 1–1–1 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–1David Toms 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0Tiger Woods 2 2–3–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 1–1–0
Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsPaul Casey 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–0Darren Clarke 3.5 3–1–1 0–0–1 2–0–0 1–1–0Luke Donald 2.5 2–1–1 0–1–0 2–0–0 0–0–1Sergio García 4.5 4–0–1 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–1Pádraig Harrington 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0David Howell 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–0Miguel Ángel Jiménez 1 1–3–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 1–0–0Thomas Levet 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 0–0–0Paul McGinley 2.5 2–0–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–1Colin Montgomerie 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–1–0Ian Poulter 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Lee Westwood 4.5 4–0–1 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–1
References