May 5, 2018
Castelconturbia, Italy
Ben Hollerbach reports _
Saturday at the Freedman Trophy – Singles Matches
And the week ended much as it had begun. Acting as the finest of hosts, the European team embraced the North American team in an outward spirit of friendliness, yet remained ruthless on the course. For the third day in a row the stellar play from the European professionals was the story with every pro winning his match handily and the European team winning the Singles session 9.5 to 6.5. The first flight of North American players did their part to rally a comeback, winning four of the first eight matches and halving three others, to cut the overall lead to 15-9. But it was a gallant last gasp that ran out of steam, with the last half of the singles matches going solely to the Europeans. The contest ended with a decisive European victory 23-9.
While in defeat, one of the shining moments of the singles matches came in Joe Hollerbach’s valliant run at Costantino Rocca. Four down after the 10th, Joe won the 11th, 13th, and 14th with birdies to bring the match back to only 1 down with 4 to go. Costantino eventually defeated Joe on the 16th green. After the round Constantino pointed out that when he played Tiger Woods in singles at the 1997 Ryder Cup he beat Tiger 4 and 2, but he was only able to beat Joe 3 and 2.
Our correspondent, Ben Hollerbach.
Regardless of the score, nearly every match this week was competitive. Though bruised in spirit, perhaps, the North American team pushed their European opponents to put up their very best scores. Absolutely good play was required to win any hole. A consoling thought, perhaps, but the men from the New World put up a good fight though the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story.
For the second time in three playings, the Freedman Trophy ended in an overwhelming victory, with 2018 only being bested by the United States 24.5 – 7.5 win in 2016. With their victory this year the Europeans look energized to make the trek across the Atlantic in 2020 in defese of their newly acquired hardware.
Mr. Contantino Rocca.
Mike Stevens, Captain of the North American team, presents to the Freedman Trophy to Claus Muehlfeit, Captain of the European team.