Union
Jack
Augusta State Topples Cowboys ( 16)
IMG, Leadbetter Form Junior Tour ( 20)
Everybody this side of London's Carn-aby Street knows the sartorial Ian Poulter
was captain Nick Faldo's best player at
the Ryder Cup in 2008. But give yourself
a gold star if you remember the names of
the only other two players on the losing
side to fashion winning records that week
in Kentucky.
If your educated guess was Justin
Rose and Graeme McDowell, you're much
smarter than Colin Montgomerie thinks
he is.
Funnily enough, what the much-lampooned Montgomerie thinks actually matters since he will captain Europe
against the Americans this fall in Wales.
All Northern Ireland's McDowell and Eng-land's Rose did Sunday was win important
tournaments on big stages. Rose outdu-eled Fast Rickie Fowler to capture Jack
Nicklaus' invitation-only party in Ohio. It
was his long-awaited first victory in the
States. McDowell smoked the field at the
Wales Open with a final-round 63 on the
same course that will host the Ryder Cup.
Clearly, they both want in at Celtic Manor.
For his part, the made-for-3D-TV Fowler
had a tough weekend. Not only did he
squander a three-shot, 54-hole lead at the
Memorial, but Oklahoma State, the school
he left to turn pro, got upset by Augusta
State in the NCAAs in Tennessee.
All part of the process, bro. Just ask
the guy who beat him. His process took a
dozen years in the U.S.
But, finally, Justin Rose is an American
Beauty.
