CHASKA, Minn. (AP) -- The victory leap was a bit premature, but the hugs that came later on the 18th green were as timely as the putts Phil Mickelson kept rolling in on a beautiful Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Soon Mickelson would take the party upstairs, swigging champagne on an elevated walkway and spraying the cheering crowd below.
If anyone deserved to celebrate a long-awaited American victory in the Ryder Cup, it was Lefty.
He came through in front of 50,000 fans, and he came through behind closed doors in the team room. He even managed to rebound from an awkward moment in the days before play began when he criticized decisions made a dozen years ago by former captain Hal Sutton.