Sir, - I am an American of Irish descent and grew up playing out of the Country Club while at home in Boston and at Portmarnock while visiting relations and studying at Trinity College. I was lucky enough to qualify for a Leinster Youth's team in 1990, at which point I had no idea that my then-teammate Padraig Harrington would be a future Ryder Cupper, though he was certainly the best of us. I was thrilled to see him win his match on Sunday. Nevertheless, my allegiance was with the Americans, and I would like to address some of the issues which are being so hotly debated.
I, too, was disgusted by the behaviour of the American team on the 17th green. Clearly, there was no excuse for it. Ben Crenshaw realised this and humbly apologised. Nevertheless, I find the European coverage of the event on a par with the tasteless heckling of Colin Montgomerie. Some reports claim that Olazabal "still had a put to win the hole" and that the Americans didn't win the cup fairly.
Let's pretend that the American's had kept themselves composed and had not stormed the green: Ollie would have had to make his put and win the 18th (he did make birdie later when it didn't matter, granted, but all the pressure was off and Leonard had tuned out); and Montgomerie would have had to win as well (again, Payne Stewart looked like making bogie on 18 but I am sure it would have been entirely different had the match been relevant).
Of course, playing "what if" does a disservice to the whole event. A major point is that the Americans behaved poorly when interrupting Olazabal's putt. Another major point is that they have gone to all ends to apologise, which should put it to rest. The biggest story out of the Ryder Cup is that the Americans staged a phenomenal comeback victory at an event with record levels of European support. By lending so much attention to the handful of obnoxious hecklers of Montgomerie and the mishap on the 17th, the European coverage is serving to stoke the fire for the 2001 Ryder Cup at the Belfry and increase the likelihood of a repeat performance by hecklers.
The Americans played phenomenal golf on Sunday to complete the biggest come-back in Ryder Cup history. The other issues deserve reporting, but they do not deserve to be the major story, especially in light of the extent of American apologies. - Yours, etc.,
Peter L. O'Brien, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.