Friend, foe and fan hold Clarke in fond embrace

Ryder Cup: The ropes came down and for the first time the fans broke free and flooded up the 16th fairway to where Darren Clarke stood over what would be his last putt of this Ryder Cup.

Players friends, fans, officials, family, they had all made their way across the iron foot bridge and under the glade of trees to be there, close at hand. That Sweden's Henrik Stenson had minutes before on the 15th green sank the putt that earned Europe their third triumph in succession was scarcely relevant. They all instinctively gravitated to Clarke in the quietest corner of the golf course.

If this week has been about one man, it has been about Clarke. If this week ever dared to assume it could step out of the realms of sport and walk for a short time with him, offer him some comfort as he continues to accommodate the death of his wife Heather, then this was the week and the 16th green was the moment.

Paul Casey may have played better golf and Tiger Woods might have drawn the crowds. Phil Mickelson's form might have been the most baffling. Paul McGinley may have felt the proudest, smiled the most, punched the air and gazed in wide-eyed amazement at the hordes who had come to watch but Clarke was always the heartbeat. Clarke was the spirit of this European team, the inspiration and Clarke generated the biggest noise as the fans bought in to everything he brought to the week.

It was his ruddy complexion, his big boy demeanour and his barely concealed vulnerability around which the team coalesced and united. It was all of these things, too, that brought thousands of people to the edge of the river Liffey, where they stood 20 or 30 deep and cheered as he and Zach Johnson tried to complete their round of golf as best they could under conditions they had never before experienced.

It was the crowd's chants and maybe, too, Clarke's realisation, as he shook hands to a 3&2 win, that this chapter had come to an emotional end. It was his caddy, Billy Foster, who with a glazed look in his own eyes offered a shoulder to his boss. Clarke accepted and for a few brief seconds the world watched as the two hugged and inevitably, the tears flowed from the big man. In truth, there was really no other plausible ending to the week.

By then other players had arrived. Luke Donald came with Casey on the back of a buggy. Tiger Woods, Tom Lehman, Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal, they all embraced the Dungannon man for no other reason thathey wanted to, that they believed this was the right place to be, the right green to be on and the right man to be hugging at the end of a triumphant Ryder Cup.

When Ian Woosnam was asked what his defining moment was, it wasn't the result or Stenson's score. "I don't think I need to answer that question," he said. "I think everyone knows what it was, the emotion on that 16th green."

It has been written of Clarke that he knows "the inside of a Ferrari, the outside of a cigar and the bottom of a pint glass". As a sketch of the man, it is not far off and as the players made their way to the exclusive K Club and emerged on the balcony to spray each other and the crowd with champagne, it was Clarke who was handed the pint of Guinness, one he downed in five seconds before holding up the empty glass to draw a generous roar of approval. "I've got too many to list," he said afterwards when asked for his memories of the last six days. "This week has done a lot for me. It's shown me that a lot of people cared about me and a lot of people cared about Heather. It was very, very touching."

Then off they went in their pink and white uniforms, Woosnam promising a party, a real party, Clarke a broad smile pasted to his face, nodding his head and with a glint in his eye that said, "A party, yeah that would be good idea."