In 1989 The Belfry saw one of the greatest shots in Ryder Cup history. It had been a closely fought contest with every match and every hole being a tussle, leaving Europe heading into Sunday with a narrow 2 point lead. However, the U.S.A managed to quickly claw this back with Tom Kite’s 8&7 win over Howard Clark and wins in the 2 opening matches giving them the lead. Europe got themselves going and won the next 3 points. Still close at 12-10 it could go either way and the match between O’Connor Jr. and Couples was heading down the 18th.
Both players had found the fairway but O’Connor Jr. was a good 50 yards following a huge drive from Couples. Cue O’Connor’s moment, sweetly striking his 2 iron to within 4 feet of the flag. Couples couldn’t find the green with his approach and when he failed to chip in, it handed O’Connor the point.
This gave Europe a 13-10 lead and helped them in retaining The Ryder Cup.
