2008 Ryder Cup pin flag Valhalla Golf Club open british tpc pga

Description

The
37th Ryder Cup Matches
were held September 19–21,
2008
, in the
United States
at
Valhalla Golf Club
in
Louisville, Kentucky
. Team USA won 16½ - 11½ to end the streak of three successive victories for Europe. This was USA's largest margin of victory since
1981
and the first time since
1979
that the Americans had held the lead after every session of play. The team captains were
Paul Azinger
for the US and
Nick Faldo
for Europe.
The U.S. team had been in the lead since the contest began on the Friday. Europe was two points behind going into the Sunday singles matches. They had only previously overturned a deficit once before, in
1995
. USA won the majority of the first matches out and subsequently
Jim Furyk
defeated
Miguel Ángel Jiménez
2 & 1 to win his match and win the Ryder Cup for the USA.
[1]
Other matches still out on the course would see this margin of victory increase further. Following the defeat
Nick Faldo
was heavily criticised for his decision to "bottom load" his best players in the singles when the Americans only needed 5½ points to win which they got before they could have any effect on the overall outcome.
Team USA
Name
Age
Residence
Points
rank
World
ranking
Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches
W–L–H
Winning
percentage
Paul Azinger
48
Bradenton, Florida
Non-playing captain
Phil Mickelson
38
Rancho Santa Fe, California
2
2
6
25
9–12–4
44.00
Stewart Cink
35
Duluth, Georgia
3
11
3
12
3–5–4
41.67
Kenny Perry
48
Franklin, Kentucky
4
20
1
2
0–2–0
0.00
Jim Furyk
38
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
5
9
5
20
6–12–2
35.00
Anthony Kim
23
Dallas, Texas
6
10
0
Rookie
Justin Leonard
36
Dallas, Texas
7
23
2
8
0–3–5
31.25
Ben Curtis
31
Stow, Ohio
8
30
0
Rookie
Boo Weekley
35
Jay, Florida
9
35
0
Rookie
Steve Stricker
41
Madison, Wisconsin
10
8
0
Rookie
Hunter Mahan
26
Plano, Texas
13
36
0
Rookie
J. B. Holmes
26
Campbellsville, Kentucky
18
56
0
Rookie
Chad Campbell
34
Colleyville, Texas
21
57
2
6
1–3–2
33.33
Team Europe
Name
Age
Residence
Points rank
(World)
Points rank
(European)
World
ranking
Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches
W–L–H
Winning
percentage
Nick Faldo
51
Welwyn Garden City
, England
Non-playing captain
Pádraig Harrington
37
Dublin
, Ireland
1
1
4
4
17
7–8–2
47.06
Sergio García
28
Borriol
, Spain
2
14
5
4
20
14–4–2
75.00
Lee Westwood
35
Worksop
, England
3
2
12
5
25
14–8–3
62.00
Henrik Stenson
32
Gothenburg
, Sweden
4
5
7
1
3
1–1–1
50.00
Robert Karlsson
39
Monte Carlo
, Monaco
5
3
17
1
3
0–1–2
33.33
Miguel Ángel Jiménez
44
Málaga
, Spain
6
4
19
2
9
2–5–2
33.33
Graeme McDowell
29
Portrush
, Northern Ireland
9
6
32
0
Rookie
Justin Rose
28
London
, England
7
7
13
0
Rookie
Søren Hansen
34
Copenhagen
, Denmark
13
8
42
0
Rookie
Oliver Wilson
28
Weybridge
, England
15
9
48
0
Rookie
Ian Poulter
32
Milton Keynes
, England
8
12
29
1
2
1–1–0
50.00
Paul Casey
31
Esher
, England
16
18
38
2
6
3–1–2
66.67