Graeme McDowell was just 16 years old when in 1995 fellow Irishman Phillip Walton, and a man many of the US players had never even heard of at the time, picked up his ball on the 18th green, his six-inch putt having been conceded by American rival Jay Haas.
The gesture gave Europe a 14 ½ to 13 ½ point victory and their first triumph in the biennial event since 1989.
Phililp Walton and the hero of the 1995 Ryder Cup lights the fuse for Graeme McDowell’s interest in pro golf.
Next Thursday Oak Hill again plays host to the PGA Championship and ‘glory’s last shot’ in season 2013.
“Watching TV coverage of the 1995 Ryder Cup was really the first time I started getting my head into golf and seriously dreaming of being out here on the Tour,” said McDowell.
“I was 16 years of age and that was really the first Ryder Cup I was really properly in to. I remember (Nick) Faldo missing it right and laying –up against Curtis Strange but getting up-and-down to win his match.
“I remember David Gilford putting from the rough but then Seve carrying Gilford in their match.
“Then for Phillip Walton to come back to Ireland as the hero in holing the winning putt was just great.”
McDowell got his first-ever look at Oak Hill in suburban Rochester in up-state New York a week ago.
However the course, while superb tee to green comes up short on the dance floor.
“I agree with Tiger’s comments in that the greens are not great and they are certainly not as good as the club and the PGA of America would like them to be,” said McDowell.
“I am not sure given the rain they’ve had in the area whether they have putt far too much sand on them in order to try them out because they seemed to have lost their surface a little bit.
“They putt well but there is not a lot of base to them, so they will be very, very soft and like TW (Tiger Woods) said, they are not going to be very fast.
“The rest of Oak Hill is immaculate but it’s just disappointing with what happened to the greens as they are not as pristine as they would like them to be.”
McDowell was hard-pressed to name a course similar to Oak Hill but then felt the Firestone Country Club course, and from where he was speaking, was a little similar.
“It’s a traditional old style tree-lined course just like here at Firestone in that it feels old school and where you have to move the ball around a lot,” said McDowell.
“The front nine is characterised by a lot of overhanging trees that you have to navigate your way through whereas the back nine is pretty straight forward off the tee but with 17 and 18 really brutal.
“So, Oak Hill is very much an old school American golf course with some chances of getting it on the fairway.
“In saying that, I like it as it’s US Open style but it’s fair and they’ve given you a little bit of breathing room in the smart places.
“It’s just disappointing the greens will not be up to shape and I’m sure there is no one as disappointed as the organisers at Oak Hill will be disappointed but you never know if we get a good growing weekend this weekend they could easily firm up.”
