casey produces ace finish
Casey is congratulated by Howell.
By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent
Paul Casey produced the greatest finish to any Ryder Cup game in history today, holing-in-one as Europe marched into a 10-6 lead at the K Club near Dublin. It was only the fifth ace the contest has ever seen - and all of them have been by European players. Five up with five to play partnering David Howell against Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson, Casey pulled out a four-iron - against his captain Ian Woosnam's advice - and watched as it landed right on line and just made it to the hole. Opponent Cink did not even need to try to match it. Casey's shot ended the match there and then because all they needed was a half. It was his first ace in tournament play and he commented: "For it to be in the Ryder Cup and to finish a match as well is remarkable. Unbelievable." Casey follows fellow Englishmen Peter Butler, Nick Faldo and Howard Clark and also Italian Costantino Rocca. Clark and Rocca achieved theirs at Oak Hill in 1995, Faldo at The Belfry in 1993 and Butler at Muirfield in 1973. "Woosie told me the guys had been hitting three-iron, so I pulled out a different club because I thought he was wrong," joked Casey, who last Sunday won the £1million World Match Play at Wentworth. "It was obviously the perfect club." Partner Howell added: "I quite enjoyed watching that. What a moment." Casey went on: "I knew it was close but when the crowd reacted it was a bizarre moment. I looked at Stewart and Zach and that was it. A surreal moment not walking up to a green. "The reaction of the whole crowd was great and to see it on the big-screen TV was fantastic. "It's probably something that will go down in history. I've seen holes in one at the Ryder Cup, but to close out a match is something different." Sergio Garcia interjected: "And only about two billion people saw that!" Casey let go of his club when the ball disappeared and there was speculation at first that a fan had taken it. But it was later established it had been retrieved. As for the ball, the Surrey golfer added: "It's very safe." Europe need four of the 12 singles to retain the trophy and 4 1/2 points for an unprecedented third successive win. But America's last victory in 1999 came from 10-6 down going into the final day. Colin Montgomerie pointed out, however, that there was a big difference this time. Seven years ago Mark James had not played Andrew Coltart, Jean Van de Velde and Jarmo Sandelin on the first two days. "We were not 10-6 down, we were 10-9 down," said the Scot. "They had to play their best three players in Tiger Woods, Davis Love and Phil Mickelson. I don't want any comparisons to the scoreline. "We were also playing in Ireland, not in Boston."
