Editing Ryder Cup (section)

===1999: Battle of Brookline===
{{Main|1999 Ryder Cup}}
The 1999 Ryder Cup held at [[The Country Club]] in [[Brookline, Massachusetts]], caused great controversy. A remarkable comeback by the American team helped propel the U.S. to a 14{{1/2}}–13{{1/2}} victory after trailing 10–6 at the start of the final day. The U.S. defeated Europe 8{{1/2}}–3{{1/2}} in the singles matches to seal the first American victory since [[1993 Ryder Cup|1993]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sports Illustrated Sports Almanac |date=2000 |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |isbn=978-1-892129-14-7 |page=396}}</ref>

The competition turned on the 17th hole of a match between American [[Justin Leonard]] and Spaniard [[José María Olazábal]]. With the match all square, Leonard needed to earn at least a half-point to seal an American victory. After Olazábal's second shot left him with a 22-foot putt on the par-4, Leonard hit his shot within 10 feet of the hole and then watched it roll away from the cup, leaving him with a 45-foot putt for birdie. Leonard had made putts of 25 and 35 feet earlier in the round. Leonard holed the putt, and a wild celebration followed with other U.S. players, their wives, and a few fans running onto the green. The putt did not guarantee a half-point for Leonard since Olazábal could still hole his putt and win the last hole. However, Olazábal missed his putt, and the American team celebrated once again, although the second celebration was more reserved than the first one.

There was considerable bad blood after the event, with some of the European players complaining about the behavior of the American galleries throughout the match. [[Sam Torrance]] branded it "disgusting", while European captain [[Mark James (golfer)|Mark James]] referred to it as a "bear pit" in a book recounting the event.<ref name="book">{{cite book |last=James |first=Mark |title=Into the Bear Pit: The Hard-Hitting Inside Story of the Brookline Ryder Cup |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QFMGQAACAAJ |date= 2007 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7535-1297-5}}</ref> There were also reports that a spectator spat at James' wife.<ref name="report">{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/golf/1999/ryder_cup/news/1999/09/28/ryder_abuse_ap/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010610213948/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/golf/1999/ryder_cup/news/1999/09/28/ryder_abuse_ap/ |archive-date=10 June 2001 |title='A mob demonstration' |magazine=Sports Illustrated |via=CNN |date=28 September 1999}}</ref> [[Payne Stewart]] had conceded his singles match to [[Colin Montgomerie]] with both players level and on the last green in 2 shots as a response to the abuse Montgomerie had received throughout the match.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kingdom.golf/golf/a-champion-remembered/ |title=Payne Stewart: A Champion remembered |website=kingdom.golf |date=19 March 2015 |access-date=18 September 2021 }}</ref>

Following the 1999 Ryder Cup, many members of the U.S. team apologised for their behavior, and there were numerous attempts by both teams to calm the increasing nationalism of the event.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |first=David |last=Davies |title=Day of shame that refuses to die |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/sep/17/rydercup2004.rydercup3 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=17 September 2004 |access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref><ref name="balls">{{cite news |title="He Acted Like A Madman" - Balls Remembers The Most Controversial Ryder Cup Ever Played |url=https://www.balls.ie/golf/1999-ryder-cup-347531-347531 |work=Balls |date=26 September 2018 |access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref>