Once again Corey Pavin came through on the final hole. Once again he found the perfect shot at the perfect time. Because of it, the United States should win the Ryder Cup - once again.
Just like he did at Shinnecock when he put Greg Norman away with a 228-yard 4-wood to win the U.S. Open, Pavin all but ended Europe's chances of regaining the Ryder Cup when he chipped in from 18 feet Saturday to win the last match of the day.That one flick of his wedge meant that Europe will need to win seven of the 12 singles matches Sunday at Oak Hill Country Club and halve an eighth to win the cup. Not impossible, but it would mean a major collapse by the Americans.
When Pavin's testy chip shot dropped into the hole to give he and Loren Roberts the final match of the day over Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer - and the U.S. team a 9-7 lead - it just about took European hopes down with it.
It would have been a lot easier if they could have gone into singles tied 8-8.
With the last match of the day coming to the last hole tied, it looked like the Europeans might manage that when Faldo hit his approach shot to 15 feet.
But Pavin's delicate chip eased gently out of the short rough, scooted across the slick green, caught the lip of the cup, did a near complete turn of the hole, popped up and plunked in.
"I knew it was on line but it was going pretty good," Pavin said. "A Ryder Cup highlight forever.
"I didn't feel much pressure," he said. "I felt it was a do or die shot."The shot took some steam out of a European run in which they won three of the four alternate-shot matches and tied the competition 6-6. But they could manage only a point in the four better-ball matches.
"We were disappointed to be behind," European captain Bernard Gallacher said. "The players feel they are better than the American players and they want to prove it tomorrow."
Pavin gave the inexperienced U.S. team all the leadership captain Lanny Wadkins wanted from him. Playing in his third Ryder Cup, he has captured three points in his four matches. He and Roberts are the only Americans with three points.
One concern coming into this competition was the experience factor. The European team had played in a combined 51 Ryder Cups while the U.S. squad had only a total of 15 under its belt.
But it was Roberts, one of the five American rookies, who teamed with Pavin to beat veterans Faldo and Langer on Saturday, just as rookie Tom Lehman teamed with Pavin on Friday to defeat Faldo and Colin Montgomerie.
Trailing 5-3 after Friday's opening round, the Europeans finally got a point from Faldo and Montgomerie and rode the emotional surge of a hole-in-one by Costantino Rocca in the alternate-shot matches to get back in it.
"We had a good talking to by our captain last night and we came out strong," Sam Torrance said, after teaming with Rocca to defeat Davis Love III and Jeff Maggert 6 and 5.
Whatever Gallacher said worked.
Langer and David Gilford beat Pavin and Lehman 4 and 3, while Faldo and Montgomerie defeated Curtis Strange and Jay Haas 4 and 2.
The U.S. team would have trailed going into the better-ball matches if not for Roberts and Peter Jacobsen. They rallied to defeat Ian Woosnam and Philip Walton 1-up, holding on with a dramatic 65-yard wedge shot by Roberts to 2 feet on the last hole.
It was cold and crisp when play started at 8 a.m. Saturday, the rain-filled clouds of the opening round gone, puffs of breath hanging in the air as Faldo and Montgomerie led their team out against Strange and Haas.
If the Europeans were to have any hope, they needed their best pairing to get off to a good start Saturday. They did exactly that, but the energy of the early European surge was greatly deflated by Pavin and Roberts.
Pavin and Roberts led Faldo and Langer for almost all of the front nine but slipped into a tie with a bogey on No. 10.
At the time, the other three matches all had 3-hole leads, with the U.S. leading in two, and if Europe was to enter final-day singles play tied it needed this match, the last of the day.
Pavin once again lived up to his bulldog nickname. He rolled in a 10-footer on No. 12, his third birdie of the day, to put the Americans 1-up.
The United States went ahead 7-6 when Brad Faxon and Fred Couples closed out Torrance and Montgomerie 4 and 2.
As they were playing No. 13, Rocca and Woosnam closed out Love and Ben Crenshaw 3 and 2 and the match was tied at 7-7.
With tension all over their faces as 25,000 fans, teammates, wives and the world watching, Faldo and Roberts both hit perfect drives on No. 18 while Pavin and Langer missed the fairway in the right rough.
Faldo hit first and put all the pressure in the world on his opponents with a great shot to 15 feet. Roberts hit the green but was more than 50 feet away.
Pavin cut a beautiful shot out of the rough over the bunker to the fringe of the green.
Roberts putted first and hit it close enough to give Pavin a free run at the birdie try. In it went. Faldo missed, making Europe's work all that much harder on Sunday.