Two years later, I still get the angry emails.
From Spain. From Italy. The occasional rant from Germany and even Belgium. I think I got something from Sweden one time.
But mostly I get emails from the United Kingdom. They love me in the U.K.
And all because I wrote that Team USA was going to beat Team Europe in the 2012 Ryder Cup.
Well, to be more exact, I wrote it on Saturday night. With an entire Sunday's worth of singles matches still to be played.
Never mind. It's over. Olazabal can click off the walkie talkie and take the IFB out of his ear. Time for the Europeans to fire up the private jets and head back home to Florida.
I wish it were different -- I really do. But overcome a 10-6 deficit? Win eight of 12 singles matches?
What can I say? I was feeling a little salty. And, no, I wasn't Saran-wrapped in red, white and blue. My cell phone ring tone didn't feature the opening stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner." I'm an old-school, no-cheering-in-the-press-box kind of guy.
But no way were the Europeans going to come back from four points down.
Yes, I picked the Europeans to win. I'm also the guy who picked Samsung over Apple, the Wicked Witch of the West over Dorothy and Savannah State over Florida State. I miscalculated.
Before the Ryder Cup started, I'm pretty sure I picked the Europeans to win, 14½-13½. But when the Americans put Team Europe in a headlock that Saturday, I flipped sides. Was that wrong?
I simply couldn't imagine Team USA getting Mongolian reversaled the same way the Europeans were done in at Brookline in 1999. Remember? The Americans scored 8½ points on Sunday to overcome Europe's massive lead.
And there's only one Brookline, right?
Uh ...
Team Europe didn't give up [Saturday]. Those guys never give up, especially Ian Poulter.
... If Mrs. Poulter had had quintuplets and they all played golf, then Team Europe might have won this thing. But there's only one Poulter and he can only win once on Sunday -- that is, if he beats Webb Simpson in the second match.
And then Poulter won his match Sunday. In fact, it seemed like every European won his match that Sunday. The Ryder Cup scoreboard bled blue.
Team USA was in a full sweat. And I was right there with them. This couldn't be happening.
The Europeans have to do too much with too little. They won't phone it in. That's why Olazabal front-loaded his Sunday lineup with Team Europe's heavy hitters (Luke Donald, Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose).
Of course, Team Europe wasn't going to phone it in. Not its style. But I didn't see a comeback for the ages coming. I didn't see the Europeans spraying Moet at the end of the day. I didn't see the Miracle at Medinah.
But it happened. And it was spectacular. And awe-inspiring. And memorable.
Just in case it wasn't memorable, hundreds (maybe thousands -- I quit counting after a while) of European golf fans reminded me of that prediction and that final score.
I don't regret writing the column. I do regret not sticking with my original pick.
Six months after the 2012 Ryder Cup, I spent the day with Poulter in Orlando, Florida. Lovely fellow. Wonderful family. A Ferrari fanatic.
We were in his kitchen that morning -- he was making breakfast: eggs with HP Sauce -- and I asked him something about the Ryder Cup. In the course of his answer, he mentioned seeing a column dismissing Team Europe's chances.
"How would you feel if I told you that columnist was me?" I said.
His eyebrows went vertical for a moment. There was a slight grin, a bemused look, but nothing more.
"Anything can happen in sport," he said politely.
But later that morning, when he was testing new club shafts on the far side of his local range, he stopped, glanced at his caddie and said, "This is the writer who wrote that column."
Poulter's caddie, Terry Mundy, looked me over and said, "Well, he didn't write anything we weren't thinking ourselves."
Poulter went back to hitting balls. And Mundy didn't say another peep to me the rest of the day.
I did mention later to Poulter that European golf fans are a spirited bunch. And I mentioned the emails.
"Can I ask you a question?" I said.
"Yes, of course," Poulter said.
"What's a git? Because I get called that a lot."
And then he explained the meaning.
Let's just say I think I had it coming.