Has it really been that long?
On September 26, 1999, the Ryder Cup ended in a scene unlike anything golf had seen before. Justin Leonard’s 45-foot putt dropped on the 17th green at The Country Club, and before Team Europe’s José María Olazábal could even respond, the American team had stormed the putting surface. The match was not finished, but the celebration was already underway.
Now, twenty-six years to the day, the Ryder Cup begins again with its 45th edition at Bethpage Black. The atmosphere will be volatile, and the questions surrounding this uniquely intense event remain the same: How much emotion is too much? What does home-course advantage mean? Can the Americans win back the Cup under a new captain?
Massachusetts has always held a central place in Ryder Cup history. The competition was first staged in 1927 at Worcester Country Club, and seventy-two years later it returned to The Country Club in Brookline, where golf witnessed one of the Ryder Cup’s greatest comebacks and most unforgettable Sundays.
No shortage of accounts documented the events of 1999, but both the Winter 1998-1999 and 1999–2000 issues of MassGolfer™ did so with striking clarity. Those editions blended event history and FAQs for the golf community with Brian Smith’s photographs of swelling galleries and the jubilant chaos that overtook the 17th hole.
“When Justin Leonard’s 45-footer found its target on The Country Club’s 17th green, the U.S. Ryder Cup team capped off its improbable comeback and uncorked a celebration which reverberated throughout the game.”
Heading into that Sunday, Europe held a commanding 10–6 lead after two days of foursomes and four-balls. Sergio García and Jesper Parnevik were nearly unbeatable in team formats. Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke piled up points. Some in the press had already started writing Europe’s victory into their copy.
But Captain Ben Crenshaw saw something different. On Saturday night, he faced the media and kept his words brief. “I’m a big believer in fate,” he said. “I have a good feeling about this.”
What followed was one of the most extraordinary days in Ryder Cup history. The Americans stormed out in singles, winning the first six matches, none of which reached the 17th hole, and flipping the scoreboard into a wall of red. That wave of momentum set the stage for Leonard’s putt, the eruption that followed, which shook the ground under the feet of a swelling New England crowd.
On his dad’s shoulders was 13-year-old Keegan Bradley, who grew up in Vermont but later attended high school in Massachusetts, watching his heroes turn the tide and capture victory. Surely today, as first-time captain of the U.S. team at Bethpage Black, Bradley carries that memory with him.
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