magic moments - monty's first (1991)
Monty came close to defeat.
Colin Montgomerie v Mark Calcavecchia, Kiawah Island 1991 It is one of Colin Montgomerie's proudest achievements that he has never been beaten in Ryder Cup singles. But he still clearly remembers how close he came to losing his very first game - and what it did to the man he was up against. "I'd taken off my glove and handed it to my caddie. I was going to concede his 2-foot putt and shake hands," said the Scot. "But then I thought 'No - let him win the game, not me give it to him.' "And he missed the hole completely." Mark Calcavecchia, Open champion two years earlier, had won two of his previous three matches in the week. But now he did not have Payne Stewart as his partner. He was on his own. And he was a player in mental turmoil. There was no hint of what was to come when the American went a massive five up by the turn. "I was thinking about what was the worst it could be," admitted Montgomerie. The answer was eight and six - not quite the record at the time, Tom Kite's eight and seven hammering of Howard Clark two years earlier, but bad enough. It continued to go horribly wrong for the Scot when he bunkered his second to the 10th. But he holed out from there and birdied the long 11th to be "only" three down. When Calcavecchia made it four up with four to play, however, the end looked nigh. Montgomerie had avoided total embarrassment and was still fighting. But he did not expect what followed. "I played the remaining holes double bogey, par, double bogey, par and won them all," he said. "It's not a memory you like to have, but it proved what it meant to play for your country. "He finished triple bogey, bogey, triple bogey, bogey." Eight over for four holes, making them a combined 12 over. "We both made a complete hash of it, but I was shocked at how much it could affect somebody," Montgomerie added. On the 15th, the two players began to lose control in the wind, but Calcavecchia lost it more, taking seven after being left off the green in two, and the tension was etched on his face when he lost the 16th as well. The 17th is Kiawah's most famous hole, a par three all over water. Montgomerie had the honour, but failed to make the carry. All over bar the shouting, you might have assumed if you had just arrived, but the American then stepped forward and hit a horrid one into the lake as well. Forward they walked to the ladies tee, but when Montgomerie took another ball from his caddie and asked for the yardage, Kevin Laffey gave an honest answer, but maybe not the one his player wanted. He said: "Not a clue - I never expected to be here." So between them they just took a guess and, while it looked a seven iron distance, out came the six just to be sure of getting over. It went to the back of the green, Calcavecchia was closer and, when Montgomerie could do no better than five, his opponent had two for it. The first finished less than a yard from the flag and it should have been all over. But that is when the little voice in Montgomerie's head told him to wait. And, given another life, he hit a superb drive and two iron to the last and a par was good enough. Calcavecchia was a broken man. "He went off to the beach and Payne Stewart got him some oxygen. He was in a hell of a state - and I wasn't great either," Montgomerie said. "If somebody had said it wasn't a half and we had to play on, I think we would both have replied, 'No thanks. Not going. Enough." It even made Montgomerie wonder whether he ever really wanted to play another Ryder Cup if it could do that to someone. But he is happy to report he has never seen anything like it since - and he has built one of the most impressive records going. "Has anyone ever come back from four down with four to play for a half?" he asks. He does not know the answer, but he is mighty glad he did it.
