Tough loss for Team USA hard to explain

Hunter Mahan acted as though he felt responsible for Team USA's 1/2-point Ryder Cup loss to Team Europe at Celtic Manor in Wales today. While such a notion is understandable on his part, it holds little water. The truth is he had plenty of help.

Afterward, in a team news conference, Mahan tried to express his feelings but was repeatedly overcome by emotion. As Mahan fought back tears, Phil Mickelson took the microphone from him and partly blamed himself for the USA's loss. After all, Mickelson said, he had lost three of his four matches.

Added Steve Stricker: "It really doesn't come down to Hunter. You hate to see Hunter go through what he's going through."

Though it's true Mahan chunked a chip shot on the 17th hole that sealed his fate in a 3-&-1 loss to Graeme McDowell in the final singles match that decided the competition, Team USA as a whole has to be blamed for the weight he was asked to carry. If Stewart Cink hadn't three-putted for par on the 15th hole in his match against Rory McIlroy, he would have likely earned a full point instead of a halve and the Americans would have enjoyed a victory celebration instead of the Europeans. It was that close.

The key to the competition came in the third session when the Americans, who won 3 out of 4 sessions, were drubbed 5 1/2 to 1/2. Trailing 9 1/2 to 6 1/2 going into today's final 12 singles matches, put the Americans in a tough position. But they almost pulled off another miracle like the one at Brookline in 1999 when they rallied from a 10-6 deficit to win.

But a 7-5 advantage in the final session wasn't enough for Team USA. It just made the Europeans sweat a little before the celebration began. At 11:30 a.m. in Wales, Team USA trailed in 8 of the 12 matches. Three and half hours later, the Americans were in position to keep the Cup, but they came up short.

What could have been a blowout was made interesting by victories by Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton, Tiger Woods, Mickelson and Zach Johnson. Stricker set the tone for an American comeback with a 2 & 1 victory over Lee Westwood. Dustin Johnson dusted Martin Kaymer, the man who edge him in the PGA Championship, 6 & 4 and Woods was 9 under through 15 holes in a 4-&-3 drubbing of Francesco Molinari.

Ryder Cup rookie Rickie Fowler, who birdied his last four holes, showed his grit by earning a halve against Edoardo Molinari after being 4-down through 12 holes. But the gutsy comeback went for naught when Mahan couldn't extend the day's final match past the 17th hole.

Some are blaming captain Corey Pavin for the loss, saying he wasn't emotional enough and didn't seem to have his players wanting to win for him. But you wouldn't think the players really needed any motivation considering Team USA has won only two of the last eight Ryder Cups and hasn't won on European soil since 1993 at The Belfrey.

You can blame Pavin for Team USA's leaky rain suits, shoddy bags and ugly outfits, but you can't blame him if the players aren't fired up. That didn't seem to be the case. The will was there but the execution came up 1/2 point short. Maybe it was those ugly purple sweaters Team USA wore on Sunday. They were enough to make the golf gods puke. That's as good an explanation as any.

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Information from ESPN.com and RyderCup.com contributed to this post.