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Eagle-eyed fans have appeared to spot a subtle detail with an important meaning during Europe’s Ryder Cup victory celebrations.
Captain Luke Donald led Europe to a historic Ryder Cup triumph on Sunday after a truly dramatic competition.
Things really began to heat up on day two when both Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry became embroiled in a war of words with various US-backing hecklers at Bethpage Black.
Initially, the five-time major winner engaged in what appeared to be banter by blowing sarcastic kisses towards the crowd before things turned ugly later on day two, with McIlroy even telling the crowd to “shut the f**k up,” before later refusing to play his shot until the rowdy spectators were silenced.
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His wife, Erica Stoll, was also struck by a stray drink on the approach to the 17th tee during his match alongside Lowry, something which he has since condemned.
Lowry also had several run-ins with the crowd and even appeared to be restrained to stop him from approaching one heckler on Saturday.
Heading into day three, the drama began before a ball was struck as the rare ‘envelope’ rule was invoked for just the third time in Ryder Cup history when Europe’s Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw due to a neck injury following an MRI scan.
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This resulted in a halved match against USA’s Harris English, with both teams awarded 0.5 points and therefore starting the day 12-5 in favour of Europe.
The rule was previously enforced in 1991 when Steve Pate was injured in a car crash ahead of the Ryder Cup, as well as in 1993 when Sam Torrance could not play due to an infected toe.
And what should’ve been plain sailing for Europe became a nail-biting affair before Lowry made it 15-13 to the away side ahead of the celebrations.
Since then, many have praised captain Donald’s leadership, with journalist Jamie Kennedy breaking down the small details the skipper used to help his team to victory.
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Donald reportedly had the bedding changed at the hotel, had cracks in the doors mended to stop light getting into rooms, and changed the shampoo to a better quality fragrance.
And the captain, sweating the small stuff, did not stop there, as there was a hidden meaning in Europe’s shirts.
According to Kennedy, the four stripes on the team uniform represented the four away victories the team had achieved - before they secured a fifth triumph on Sunday, of course.
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Europe have now won 11 of the last 14 Ryder Cups and five in the last ten attempts on U.S. soil.
Topics: Ryder Cup, Golf, Rory Mcilroy
Luke Davies