Anyone who watched the Ryder Cup this weekend will no doubt agree with me when I say that what happened in Chicago was one of the most spectacular sporting occasions in History. On Saturday afternoon Europe were finished, beaten out of sight by an American team backed by supporters who goaded the Europeans by cheering missed putts, wayward drives and lake bound tee shots. Nothing ceases to amaze with American sports fans and their loud mouth attitude towards what is supposed to be a gentleman’s game, it’s like they have a deep rooted insecurity in their DNA that makes them have to shout all the time…To follow sport in the USA do you have to be an evangelist Tourette’s sufferer?

So at 10-4 down on Saturday evening, Europe were supposedly a spent force but the American’s didn’t account for one thing and that was the rise of Ian Poulter, the 36 year old Arsenal supporting Englishman from Hitchin in Hertfordshire. Ian Poulter has had ups and downs in his career, as a non-conformist he has upset some people on the way but as a Ryder Cup player he is the ultimate pied piper, leading by example and making his team mates believe anything is possible. This weekend was written in the stars for Poulter and despite the heroics of Mo Farrah, Jess Ennis and Andy Murray in this fantastic year of sport, no one has, in my opinion, single handedly inspired a team in the manner that Poulter did with five consecutive birdies on Saturday night.

Poulter: My Sporting hero of 2012

At 10-6 down yesterday, Europe were still the major underdogs, but momentum is everything and Poulter’s infectious never say die attitude was catching on fast as his team mates blitzed their way through the American top order. However, early in his round it almost seemed like the herculean efforts of Saturday night had taken its toll on Poulter as Webb Simpson took a two shot lead…Was this one game too many? Not a chance, Poulter doesn’t think that way, and he fought back to win (2 up) as the blue side of the scoreboard began to light up and we all began to feel that we were watching a special, special evening in our sporting lives. You could almost smell the fear of the Yanks through your TV screen, the loud mouths were zipped as Mickelson, the blubbering Georgian, collapsed under pressure from another Englishman, the excellent Justin Rose.

With McIlroy, Westwood, Garcia and the quite brilliant Paul Lawrie all winning, it all came down to the last two matches that were neck and neck, this was the highest possible drama in modern sport. Martyn Kaymer who was one up on the 18th green and needed two putts to retain the trophy, it all of a sudden seemed too easy but in keeping with the drama his first effort went five feet past leaving him a nerve wrecking putt to finish. Silence…Silence…Tap…Pandemonium and my neighbour abruptly wakened as George and I leapt in to an increasingly rare father and son embrace…What an evening!  A half for Molinari ensured that Europe not only retained the cup but won the match outright as well; one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history was complete.

Much of the credit for this victory went to the spiritual presence of Seve Ballesteros and though the memories of the great man enhance this wonderful story further, the real inspiration came from the man on the course and that man was Ian Poulter who contributed a total of four points and refused to be intimidated by the mentally deficient American crowd. In hindsight, despite how much the “stay out da hole” “get in da trees” “get in da lake” American fuckwitts annoyed me at the time, I am now really glad they did it, it makes the European victory seem sweeter and it drove something deep within Ian Poulter to push his team mates forward and believe that anything  is possible when you can create  a heady cocktail of desire, spirit and belief.

Arise Sir Ian….

watch the wonderful BBC highlights here