Nick Faldo may not be a good captain, but at least he’s a lucky one.

Faldo's ludicrous decision to leave out Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood from the Saturday morning foursomes was rescued by the hideous play of America's No 1 pairing and by the heroism of a 28-year-old from Mansfield. Oliver Wilson is both the youngest member of Europe's team and one of the stuffiest.

Westwood didn't want to rest and said he would have played with one arm hanging off. But Faldo preferred to send out Wilson and Henrik Stenson, a callow, untried pairing, against America's biggest guns, Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson.

The European crowd beside the first tee tried to lift the unlikely lads by singing "Walking in a Wilson wonderland" but the match soon looked like turning into a Faldo blunderland. After six holes the Americans were four up and carrying a momentum that might take them all the way to the Ryder Cup.

Kim and Mickelson seemed to mock Faldo's selection by touching knuckles and looking cockier than a bag of roosters. All week Wilson had visibly craved his chance and now he was being splattered across the fields of Valhalla. Rebecca Adlington, the double gold medallist in the swimming pool of Beijing, was a heavy odds-on chance to remain Mansfield's only golden youth.

Then, quite inexplicably, the Americans collapsed. Mickelson and Kim butchered the next nine holes, playing them in five over par. They were in the trees, they were in the water, they were up the creek. Stenson and Wilson, who had been no more than solid, were suddenly one up with three to play. But it's one thing to be lucky, another to take advantage of it. On the 17th green it was Europe to putt first from 25 feet and every chance that Mickelson would square the match if they missed.
But Wilson has a short game that Westwood would walk his blistered feet over hot coals for. Just as the kid had nervelessly nailed his drive off the first tee, he now stroked his putt with velvet fingers. As the ball arced towards the hole, you could tell from Wilson's eyes that he was staring at glory. How rowdy was the American crowd now.

The new loudest people in Kentucky were Doug and Vicki Wilson of 6 Acacia Drive, Nottinghamshire. They had yelled from the back of the theatre when Oliver was introduced at the gala dinner and they were even louder now, as they jumped up and down in their personal Wilson wonderland.

When she came back down to earth mum Vicki told the story of how she had won some tickets to the 1993 Ryder Cup and had taken Oliver along. She said: "I could see by the look on his face. He was taking it all in. I think it inspired him." Dad Doug said: "It was the first time in my life I've not been nervous. I really trust Henrik and they get on really well. It was a double whammy to be playing Mickelson and Kim. Oliver's never been frightened of Mickelson. He may be the world No 2 but we always thought he could beat him head-to-head."

The 2 & 1 victory helped Europe win the morning session and reduced the overall deficit to 7-5. After the superb Ian Poulter and Justin Rose had blitzed the Americans in the top match, the other European comeback was provided by Graeme McDowell and Miguel Jimenez.

They birdied the final hole to get a crucial half point against the gnarliest American combo of Hunter Mahan and Justin Leonard. Meanwhile, Westwood looked on from the team buggy. Fifteen years ago, Wilson was a 10-year-old boy caddying for Westwood in a local competition. Now he had replaced the Worksop man in the Ryder Cup.

Faldo justified his selections by saying: "Sergio was tired. He was shot yesterday lunchtime and he wanted a rest. The days of going all five are gone. Lee has blisters. That's fine. I wanted to rest him cos it's a brutal week."

That made little sense when you consider that Westwood had played in every session since 1999 and hasn't lost a match since his singles against Scott Verplank in 2002. It made even less sense when Faldo played Ian Poulter in all five sessions. Predictably, Westwood was slightly deflated when brought back for the afternoon fourballs.

He and his partner Soren Hansen also had to take on a wall of noise and chants of "Boo-S-A" in their match against rookies Boo Weekley and JB Holmes. On Friday evening Westwood had criticised Weekley for egging the crowd on, but Boo wasn't about to tone down his act for the rematch 24 hours later. Even the absent Tiger Woods had an interest as he took in the game from his couch and texted the watching Michael Jordan.

Westwood resisted another Boo surge, but finally he couldn't make a 12-foot putt on the 17th to keep his match alive. The ball lipped out and Kentucky rioted.

It was the end of Westwood's unbeaten run of 12 matches, a stretch that equalled Arnold Palmer's record. The result justified Paul Azinger's faith in his rookies, among whom Mahan has been outstanding. When America looked frozen with fear on the first morning, it was Mahan who smiled at a group of passing matadors (from Manchester as it happened) and bumped chests with Kim on the practise putting green. As Azinger said, experience is no good if you've only experienced losing.

The win of Weekley and Holmes also guaranteed that America could not be behind going into the final day singles. But if Europe are looking for portents, then they have dominated the singles in the previous three Ryder Cups, winning by a minimum of three points. This thing ain't over.

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