Certainly no one on the team had more on the line than Perry.

Two years away from the old-timers tour, he built his whole schedule this year around qualifying for the Ryder Cup, even when it meant skipping a chance to qualify for the U.S. Open and choosing to play in Milwaukee rather than at the British Open. That certainly subjected him to plenty of criticism, but he was born, raised and still lives right down the road in Franklin, Ky.

No event — not even a major — meant more to Perry than this one.

He birdied four of the five holes and never let up in a 3-and-2 win over Henrik Stenson, who had been one of Europe’s best in the match-play format. When it was done, Perry’s overall-clad father hugged him along the 16th green.

“I said this was going to define my career,” Perry said. “You know what? This made my career.”

Holmes was the lesser-known of the two Kentuckians on the team, a monstrous hitter who first joined his high school team in the third grade and overcame dyslexia to make it at the state’s flagship university. He was one of four players added to the team by captain Paul Azinger, who figured he might benefit from the home-course advantage.

Feeding off Weekley’s energy — the two paired up twice in fourball — Holmes had to go it alone on Sunday. He was up to the challenge, winning a crucial point with a 2 and 1 victory over Soren Hansen.

It ended in true Holmes fashion: a huge drive that headed left and looked as though it might not stop until it got to downtown Louisville. The crowd parted like the Red Sea and the ball caught the trees, bounced off a cart path, hopped along the trampled down rough, caught a bank and rolled back toward the fairway, finally stopping some 370 yards from where it started.

Holmes flipped a wedge toward the green, the ball checking up some 3 feet from the pin. Hansen missed his birdie try and the American sank his gimme to pull the Americans within one point of the win. A few minutes, it was over.

“It was pretty much perfect,” Holmes said. “You couldn’t draw it up any better.”

Jim Furyk actually clinched the win when Miguel Angel Jimenez conceded a putt at that same 17th hole. But there was no doubt who carried the load for the Americans.

Tiger who?

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