It takes something special to produce one of the best putting performances that Tiger Woods has ever seen – particularly when it comes in the first Ryder Cup match of a player’s career.
Of course, the Ryder Cup has never tended to bring the best out of Tiger Woods. The 15-time major champion has failed to find his greatest form in the ultimate team competition. But perhaps the better spells of his Ryder Cup career came when he was regularly paired with the likes of Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker.
Having said that, the 2012 Ryder Cup – where Woods was partnered with Stricker in all three sessions he played – was not his finest weekend. He won just half a point at Medinah, with his decision to concede the final hole to Francesco Molinari on Sunday sending Europe to the 14.5 points which meant that they won the trophy outright.
But perhaps the most famous match Woods was involved in that came on Friday afternoon, when he and Stricker faced Lee Westwood and European rookie Nicolas Colsaerts.
Tiger Woods blown away by Nicolas Colsaerts at the 2012 Ryder Cup
The Belgian made his way into the team thanks to a captain’s pick from José María Olazábal. And he made up for lost time after not featuring on Friday morning in Chicago.
Colsaerts made eight birdies and one eagle to help Europe win 1 up and earn a crucial point. The visitors had lost the three previous matches in the session to find themselves 5-2 down before winning the last match out.
It seemed that Colsaerts was holing putts from everywhere, completely overshadowing what was Woods’ best performance all week. In fact, Woods would suggest afterwards that there was little he could do to stop his opponent.
“I really hit it well this afternoon, but we ran into a guy who made everything today,” he said, as Oliver Holt writes in his book Miracle at Medinah.
“I don’t know what Nicolas shot. He was like seven under through 10. I quit counting after that. It was one of the greatest putting rounds I’ve ever seen.”
How Medinah summed up the highs and lows of Colsaerts’ career
Unfortunately for Colsaerts, he was unable to rediscover that magic over the rest of the week. Olazabal obviously could not drop the Belgian for the foursomes the following morning, but that decision to pair him with Sergio García backfired.
He would end up losing the three matches he would play across Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully however, Europe would indeed produce one of the greatest comebacks of all-time, making Colsaerts’ point on Friday all the more significant.
In many ways, his 2012 Ryder Cup symbolised how his whole career has played out. Few would have ever imagined after that week that Colsaerts would not make another Ryder Cup appearance as a player.
On his day however, he was simply impossible to play against – as the greatest to have ever played the game ended up finding out.
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