Leonard Rewards Crenshaw’s Faith With Key Putt

As it turns out, Ben Crenshaw’s hunch was right, just a day late.

Crenshaw said he was playing a hunch when he put Justin Leonard into the best-ball matches as Hal Sutton’s partner Saturday afternoon and sat down Jeff Maggert. Leonard would come up with some big putts, Crenshaw reasoned.

He didn’t. Leonard and Sutton halved their match with Miguel Angel Jimenez-Jose Maria Olazabal, the U.S. gained no ground on Europe and Leonard took some heat for his putting.

In fact, Johnny Miller of NBC suggested that Leonard was putting so poorly, he should have taken the afternoon off and gone home instead.

That comment was not received warmly by Leonard and some of his teammates.

“I thought I was capable of putting better, but I had to get to four-down to do it,” Leonard said. “We’ve been criticized a lot the last two days. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t go home.”

Miller laughed about the issue afterward, saying it is his job to make commentary, even if some players do not appreciate it.

Regardless of where he discovered his inspiration, Leonard found his putting stroke at the correct time. He was four-down through 11 holes, but drew even by winning the next four.

Even Olazabal appreciated it . . . sort of. He said it was a great example of putting under pressure--something Leonard did when he won the 1997 British Open and something Crenshaw counted on.

“Ben had faith in a lot of us,” Leonard said. “I was fortunate to keep my momentum going.”

Leonard said that on his 45-foot putt at No. 17, his strategy was simple.

“I was just trying to get the ball close,” he said. “That was my first goal.”

He got it close, all right.

It might get lost somewhere in the story of the victory, but Leonard still has not won a Ryder Cup match in two appearances--he is 0-3-5.

Leonard halved his match with Olazabal, who birdied the 18th hole to draw even, even though the Ryder Cup already had been decided. Leonard’s own birdie putt missed, not that it mattered much.

What really mattered was Crenshaw’s hunch. Leonard, the 27-year-old from Dallas, played golf at the University of Texas, the same as Crenshaw. Maybe it was their shared experience or maybe an appreciation of Leonard’s skill or maybe it was just a hunch after all.

But Leonard said there really was no explanation why the golf ball went into the hole on that putt.

“It was just one of those things,” he said. “I think the ball was just destined to go in.”

Crenshaw believes there may have been other factors at work. He pointed out that in 1913, when unheralded Francis Ouimet defeated Harry Ray and Ted Ray to win the U.S. Open at the Country Club, the 17th hole was where Ouimet made it happen. Ouimet sank a 20-foot putt on the 17th hole in the last round to get into a playoff, then won it with a 20-foot putt on the same hole.

Leonard said he had no idea about the historical significance of the hole until Crenshaw told him. But Leonard said he’s a little worried now.

“This may open the door for some nicknames,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Scoreboard

Records for players in the 33rd Ryder Cup matches after Sunday (one point for each victory, half a point for each halved match):

UNITED STATES

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Four-ball Foursomes Singles Player W-L-H W-L-H W-L-H Total Woods 0-2-0 1-1-0 1-0-0 2-3-0 Duval 0-1-1 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-2-1 Stewart 0-0-0 0-1-1 0-1-0 0-2-1 Love 0-0-2 0-0-1 1-0-0 1-0-3 O’Meara 0-0-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 0-2-0 Sutton 0-1-1 2-0-0 1-0-0 3-1-1 Furyk 0-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-2-0 Leonard 0-0-2 0-1-0 0-0-1 0-1-3 Mickelson 1-1-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 2-2-0 Maggert 0-1-0 2-0-0 0-1-0 2-2-0 Lehman 1-0-0 0-1-0 1-0-0 2-1-0 Pate 0-1-0 1-0-0 1-0-0 2-1-0

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EUROPE

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Four-ball Foursomes Singles Player W-L-H W-L-H W-L-H Total Montgomerie 1-0-1 1-1-0 1-0-0 3-1-1 Westwood 1-1-0 1-1-0 0-1-0 2-3-0 Lawrie 1-0-1 1-1-0 1-0-0 3-1-1 Clarke 1-1-0 1-1-0 0-1-0 2-3-0 Jimenez 1-0-1 0-1-1 0-1-0 1-2-2 Olazabal 1-0-1 0-0-0 0-0-1 1-0-2 Garcia 1-0-1 2-0-0 0-1-0 3-1-1 Sandelin 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 Van de Velde 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 Harrington 0-0-0 0-1-1 1-0-0 1-1-1 Coltart 0-0-0 0-0-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 Parnevik 1-0-1 2-0-0 0-1-0 3-1-1

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