United stands America

Captain Nick Faldo almost got it right at the Ryder Cup, but not right enough.

At the end of the intense three-day battle, won by Team USA by five points to take the game's bragging honours in continental supremacy for the first time this century, it was clear that youth triumphed over experience at Valhalla.

Consider this: Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Stewart Cink – the three most experienced players in captain Paul Azinger's team – played a total of 12 matches and gathered 5.5 points. Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington – the three Ryder Cup veterans and the pillars around which Faldo weaved his dreams – also played 12 matches and put up a mere 2.5 points on the board (two points, actually, as Garcia and Westwood paired to get a half on Friday).

In stark contrast, rookies Hunter Mahan, Boo Weekley and JB Holmes combined to earn 8.5 points and Ian Poulter, the controversial Faldo pick who has the experience of just one Ryder Cup, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose racked up 9.5 points.

Now you see why Faldo almost got it right. With the help of hindsight, his decision not to pick Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke on the basis of their past Ryder Cup experience, seems a super one. And to drop Westwood and Garcia – the two most successful Europeans in the tournament – for Saturday morning's Foursomes, seems a stroke of genius. For, that was the only session which was won by his team.

Faldo is now under fire, but to be honest, a Ryder Cup captain receives too much credit, or flak, for his team's performance. Faldo would have been hailed a hero if Harrington had shown even half the form which helped him win back-to-back Majors this year, and he had absolutely no role to play in Garcia bringing in just half a point.

Just going back a couple of years, Hal Sutton appeared to have made all the right moves and noise on the eve of the tournament with his superstar-laden American team. But as it panned out, nothing worked from Friday morning to Sunday evening.

Of course, a captain is responsible for strategies, but it is always easy to fix the blame after the ship has sunk. Faldo is being hauled over the coal for making his singles line-up too bottom heavy. But then, he also had Garcia and Paul Casey – players with stupendous match play record – as the first two out, and the red-hot Robert Karlsson was next on the tee.

What really went wrong for Faldo, was that the US team proved just that bit stronger on the three days of the event. And what went right for Azinger, was that his gamble on having six rookies in the side, hit the jackpot.

Jim Furyk, with the experience of five previous Ryder Cups, said: "Experience, experience, experience – that's what we've always driven. We had a lot of newcomers here and a lot of young guys. Right on down the line, you look at them, six new guys and they brought a lot of enthusiasm.

"They fired up the crowd. They infused amazing energy into the crowd and into the team and won probably the majority of the points. They helped us win the Ryder Cup."

Did Azinger do something different with his team? Well...he did, but that is hardly going to become a template for success for future captains.

Azinger pursued what is now being called the 'three-group strategy'. He kept the same four-man groups together in practice – Anthony Kim, Mickelson, Leonard and Mahan; Weekley, Kenny Perry, Holmes and Furyk; and Cink, Steve Stricker, Ben Curtis and Chad Campbell – and never went outside those combinations in selecting his foursomes and fourball pairings.

Azinger said: "I've had this idea for some time. I tried to play up was the team concept here, and the concept worked. We just decided to come together in small groups.

"We put four guys together in practice rounds and they played together every day and they were the four guys that stayed together the whole week. They were never going to come out of their little group. That's the way I did it."

If Europe rode on emotions to win at the K Club, Americans just had more fun in Valhalla. And that was best typified by Boo Weekley, when he hit his tee shot on the final day, straddled his driver, slapped his backside and galloped down the fairway.

"That was one of the greatest things I have ever seen," Azinger said. "It will never be duplicated."

And for all his success, Azinger will also not be sure if Team USA can duplicate 2008 in 2010 when they head up to the Celtic Manor. But then, that's golf.

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