US team looks for missed chances

By Peter Auf der Heyde Oct 4, 2010, 22:11 GMT

Newport, Wales - The losing US Ryder Cup team said Monday that their one-point defeat against Europe did not come down to a single match.

Europe won the Ryder Cup for the 11th time earlier Monday with a 14.5-13.5 victory on the 2010 course at the Celtic Manor Resort.

Phil Mickelson, who won just one point from the four matches he played, said that it had been very close. 'We came within half a point.

'But we could look anywhere throughout those 28 points for that half a point. I look at the three matches that I played in and lost, and had many opportunities to try to get that clinching point. We just fell a little bit shy.'

The left-handed player said that even though the team went into the final 12 singles matches three points down on Monday, they believed they could still win.

'We really believed all week we were going to win. We not just talked about it, but we really believed that we were going to prevail. Even heading into today when we were down, we just knew we were going to win, and we didn't.'

He said the fact that they came so close made losing even more difficult. 'Every one of us can look back on a match and say that this could have been the deciding factor, that could have been the deciding factor.

'When I didn't win any of my first three points, I felt more disappointment than I've ever felt, because this is an opportunity for us to win here in Europe. And the fact that we came so close, and I let some of these opportunities to gain points for our team slide, it does hurt more than some of the past losses.'

Jim Furyk said that the players realized they needed just half a point as they would have retained the trophy with a draw as they were the defending champions.

'Lots of us are looking at each other thinking, God, one-half point, and we get to take the Cup back home. One full point and we win the Ryder Cup. Everyone could probably beat themselves up over and over again for that half point.

'What we have to remember is we won as a team at Valhalla, and we lose as a team. It doesn't ride on one person. We are going to go together as a team here, and it falls on all of us.

'The third session was our demise. We won half a point out of six. We lose the Ryder Cup by one point and lost by five in the third session. That was our demise,' Furyk said.

Steve Stricker, who got his side off to a winning start on Monday when he beat Lee Westwood, agreed with his team-mates. 'We can all look back and we can all think about a shot here or there that could have turned the match to make up that one point.'

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