Ballesteros basks in his team's praise

An hour before his tee time, Colin Montgomerie laced up his shoes in Jaime Ortiz Patino's locker room and allowed thoughts of a pleasant afternoon to creep into his mind. "I said to myself, `I wouldn't mind at all if this turns out to be a walk in the park'," he recalled later of his singles match with Scott Hoch. It wasn't an unrealistic assumption. Montgomerie was number 10 in the singles order and, with Europe carrying a five points lead into the 12 head-to-heads, the hope was that everything would be done and dusted, and the Ryder Cup won, by the time he returned to the clubhouse.

Things don't always go as planned, certainly not in the Ryder Cup. On Saturday night, Europe's captain Seve Ballesteros had gathered his team around him. "Remember Oak Hill," he reminded them. "We were two down going into the singles and turned the whole match around. The Americans have nothing to lose, they are going to come out at us with everything they have got."

So it proved. Requiring 31/2 points to retain the trophy, and four to win, Europe won two of the first three matches, Per-Ulrik Johansson and Costantino Rocca beating two of America's major winners Davis Love III and Tiger Woods respectively. Then, Thomas Bjorn came from four down after four holes to halve his match with their other major winner, British Open champion Justin Leonard.

Behind the great Dane, Darren Clarke was fighting a battle with Phil Mickelson. The Ulsterman had made a winning debut in the Ryder Cup when winning his Saturday fourball with Montgomerie - defeating Love and Fred Couples by one hole - and "desperately wanted to contribute more".

But Clarke was hit by two sucker punches. At the fourth, Mickelson missed the green left but, from a seemingly impossible position 18 yards away, chipped into the hole for an eagle three. And, at the 11th, Mickelson again reproduced his magic to chip in for another eagle three. "Those two chip-ins nearly killed me," admitted Clarke. "However, Phil is always capable of doing those type of things and I still had my sights set on a halved match."

He gave it his best shot. Clarke won the 14th, almost chipping into the hole from the rough in front of the green, but his effort hitting the flag stick and staying out. However, Mickelson failed to get up and down from a bunker and Clarke won with a par. On the 16th, though, Mickelson sank a 15 footer for birdie to go dormie two and, when the 17th was shared in birdies, the American recorded a 2 and 1 win.

"Well done Phil, we're proud of you," said Barbara, wife of former US President George Bush, as he sought them out at the 17th greenside.

Clarke came away with a one win-one loss record from his Ryder Cup debut, and said: "Last week Sam Torrance came up to me at the Forest of Arden and told me playing in the Ryder Cup was like having a baby. I still don't know what that is like, but the nerves and pressure of the Ryder Cup are enormous. I felt I handled them and I've enjoyed the whole experience. I think it will help me greatly as a player. Roll on Boston in 1999."

What about missing out on the Ferrari from his sponsors MacGregor if he had managed two wins? "That was only a bit of fun. All I was concerned about was the team and winning."

Bernhard Langer, whose win over Brad Faxon ensured Europe retained the trophy, said: "We hear all this talk about Tiger Woods, but we have some great young players in Europe, outstanding players with tremendous character."

Those thoughts were echoed by Nick Faldo, making a record 11th Ryder Cup appearance and securing the record as the highest points scorer in the event's history. "The US Tour may have more dollars, but we have more character," said Faldo.

And, as the plaudits rained down on Ballesteroes, including a `phone call from King Juan Carlos, Jesper Parnevik, like Faldo a "wild card", added his tuppence worth: "Whatever you did worked, Seve, but I don't know what it was."

The enigma continues.