A brilliant European team retained the Ryder Cup with an emphatic victory over the USA at Gleneagles. Leading 10-6 after the first 2 days, it would have been easy to think that ultimate victory was a foregone conclusion but, at times, the final day looked anything but easy. When Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose were 3 and 4 down, it seemed that the Yanks might be about to repeat the 'Miracle at Medinah' in the opposite direction, but both clawed their way back in to their match and gained vital points. In the end, the European team were stronger overall over the 3 days and deserved their eventual victory by the quite emphatic margin of 16½-11½.
The one down side for me was that I had to watch it on the SKY platform. While the general commentary was fine, I don't think it was anywhere near as good as the BBC manages for their golfing coverage. The studio analysis was often somewhat lame, with Colin Montgomery, fine golfer though he was, proving yet again that he's pretty bloody poor as a studio analyst / summariser. His remarks were usually 'of the bleedin; obvious' or were just irrelevant. Additionally, trying to keep track of the overall match was almost impossible as the coverage switched from game to game, often with no reference to which hole was being played and with some games being largely ignored; a summary scoreboard was shown but so rarely that it was of very little help. Frankly, finally being mugged by Alec Ferguson, who appears to have hung around in the background for ages waiting to be interviewed, was the final straw for me as I have no idea what he had to add; it was clearly one of those stupid 'celebrity opportunity moments' so beloved of broadcasters but which add nothing to an occasion. SKY need to give some serious thought to their coverage of this event if they're to remain as its principal broadcaster and to have any real credibility.
Regardless of any criticisms of the television coverage, this was a great few days for European golf and it showed that, while the Americans have many of the world's top players, so does Europe, the only difference being that the Europeans are usually less well known but, possibly, have greater determination. Roll on 2016, when another team of lesser known but determined Europeans will again beat the all-powerful Americans, this time on their own soil.
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