Seve tops the 5 best Ryder Cup shots in history

MEDINAH, ILL. (AP) - Whether it’s sheer concentration, inspiration from the loudest gallery in golf or a willingness to deliver when the sport is more about country and continent than cash, the Ryder Cup tends to deliver more stunning shots in three days than most fans see in a month.

Some are subtle, such as Colin Montgomerie splitting the fairway on the 18th at Valderrama that effectively clinched it for Europe. Some shots are with the putter, players making it from absurd lengths when it looks like they’re out of the hole. And like any tournament, some of the best shots are played from the worst spots.

The list is long, and nearly impossible to narrow to only five shots. These are served up for consideration:

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5. A WALK-OFF ACE FOR PAUL CASEY

Six players have made a hole-in-one in the Ryder Cup, but the ace by Paul Casey at The K Club in 2006 was the only one to end a match.

Europe had little trouble beating the Americans that year, and this match was no exception. Casey and David Howell already were 5 up in a foursomes match Saturday against Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson when they came to the par-3 14th hole, the match dormie.

From 213 yards, Casey hit a 4-iron _ moments after European captain Ian Woosnam said his teammates had been hitting 3-iron _ and the ball landed a few feet short of the hole and tumbled into the cup. It set off one of the loudest cheers in Ireland and led to one of the Ryder Cup’s more awkward moments.

Casey conceded a 1 to Cink, meaning he is credited with a hole-in-one on a shot he didn’t hit.

“Very surreal situation, not actually walking up to a green and putting out or shaking hands on the green,” Casey said. “A fantastic moment.”

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4. JUSTIN LEONARD‘S PUTT AT BROOKLINE

“My hunch is that Justin needs to go home and watch it on television,” NBC Sports analyst Johnny Miller said on Saturday as Justin Leonard was struggling in a fourballs match at The Country Club in 1999. Not much changed on Sunday, when Jose Maria Olazabal built a 4-up lead on Leonard early on the back nine in what was shaping up as a pivotal match.

With a big putt and some mistakes by the Spaniard, however, Leonard fought back to square the match coming to the 17th hole. By then, the stakes were obvious. The Americans needed a half-point to complete the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history.

Leonard fired at the pin, only for the ball to spin back down the slope to 45 feet. Olazabal had about a 25-foot putt.

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