Belgian rookie Nicolas Colsaerts produced one of the greatest putting displays in Ryder Cup history on Friday to boost flagging European hopes of retaining the trophy.
A player better-known for his prodigious length off the tee, Colsaerts showed magic on the green, to sink putt after putt as he carried Lee Westwood to a one hole win over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in the final match of the day.
That ended a run of three straight fourballs wins for the rampant Americans and meant their lead at the end of the first day was just two points at 5-3 instead of a punitive three.
The 29-year-old Colsaerts, who in his own words has “come back from the dead” over the past 18 months to re-emerge on the international scene, had an incredible eight birdies and one eagle.
All the points in his match came from him, with Westwood, Europe’s most experienced campaigner who was supposed to be taking Colsaerts under his wing, little more than a casual observer.
“I don’t think there has ever been a better debut (in the Ryder Cup) than that,” Westwood said.
“I can’t imagine anybody’s ever made eight birdies and an eagle in their first match and against somebody like Tiger and Steve Stricker, two of the more established partnerships with a lot of experience.
“It’s a tough golf course with a good wind blowing out there. I can’t imagine anybody’s ever shown up and done anything like that before.”
Colsaerts failed to qualify automatically from the European points list for Chicago, but he impressed captain Jose Maria Olazabal and the Spaniard made him one of his two wildcard picks.
It was a decision that irked some who felt that the pick should have gone to Ryder Cup stalwart Padraig Harrington.
But Colsaerts ended all arguments with his showing at Medinah Country Club on Friday afternoon.
Asked if it had been the best round he had ever played, Colsaerts said that “under the circumstances, without a doubt”.
“When you get to play on a stage like this and you show the world that you’ve got this, yeah, this has to be the best round I ever played in front of such a big stage and with everything about it, the 11 other guys I’m playing with, vital point, last game of the day, first day of Ryder Cup, my first yeah, has to be the best one.”
Woods said that Colsaerts had produced “one of the greatest putting rounds ever.”
“There weren’t too many putts that he missed, but most of them were 15 feet and out. It was an awfully impressive day.”
Colsaerts reward was swift in coming when Olazabal chose him to go out in the Saturday morning foursomes with Sergio Garcia up against Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson.
