The staid 72-year tradition
of the Ryder Cup could not hold up to a 45-foot putt.
When Justin Leonard sank the putt that would win the cup, decorum broke down.
Most of the seven American players, caddies and some officials stormed the green
to embrace him.
Thousands of people lining the fairway and leaning over the back of the bleachers
on the 16th hole cheered riotously.
And then a strange and awkward silence overcame those on and around the green
of the 17th hole. A realization that Jose Maria Olazabal still had to putt, still
had a chance to equal Leonard. Mark O'Meara told his teammates and the others
to get off the green.
The crowd quieted, and Julie Crenshaw, wife of team captain Ben Crenshaw, sat
down and began to cry, first out of respect for the shattered gentlemanly tradition
of the cup.
"I'm
sorry they got on the green," she said to Jarmo Sandelin, a European team player.
"That's too much," he said
with a frown and a shake of his head.
The rest of the Europeans later agreed, expressing anger that the Americans and
their wives ran across Olazabal's line when he still had a 25-foot putt that could
change the outcome. He missed to seal his team's defeat.
The Americans quickly collected themselves after the celebration, slightly embarrassed.
"I don't think those things
happen on a golf course anywhere," Olazabal said. "You show respect for your opponent."
Colin Montgomerie, who
was heckled throughout the tournament by fans, was outraged.
"I
could not believe what I saw on the 17th green," the Scotsman said.
Ben Crenshaw apologized and said the storming of the green was inappropriate.
Tom Lehman apologized, too - partially.
"It
was over-exuberance, no question about it. It wasn't a good thing. Sometimes you
get carried away," he said. "But the Europeans celebrated a lot at Valderamma.
Today it was their turn to watch."
After Olazabal missed, the crowd roared again. A few hands were shaken, and Davis
Love III pulled the flagstick from the hands of a jubilant caddie and put it back
with a look of irritation. Payne Stewart and Montgomerie were still to play the
hole.
Leonard looked
stunned as he moved on to 18, followed by most of the American players and wives.
Julie Crenshaw and her husband, who also was crying, found each other heading
for the 18th and embraced.
The Americans will look back often on the moment. And the Europeans will not forget
it either, all of them because of the defeat and some for the Americans' reaction.
"It's about the most disgusting
thing I've ever seen," Sam Torrance of England, a former Ryder Cup player, told
Sky Television. "This is not sour grapes. ... Tom Lehman calls himself a man of
God. His behavior today has been disgusting."
Even before the Americans' celebration, Julie Crenshaw had gotten a glimpse of
the hard feelings. She had gone up to O'Meara after he sank a putt on 17, and
she got a glare from his opponent, Padraig Harrington, who was probably going
to be conceded an 18-inch putt.
"Harrington
didn't have to putt. The hole was over, but it was a good reminder that we have
to behave properly even under such intense circumstances," she said.
But it might have been too much to ask, even at The Country Club, a founding member
of the United States Golf Association and one of the nation's most exclusive clubs.
Indeed, the players later
climbed out of the windows of the third floor of the men's locker room and onto
a porch below to spray champagne on fans and sing the national anthem with them.
