“If Shane didn't made that putt on 18, I think most probably, Team USA would have won the Ryder Cup” - Olazábal

European vice captain José María Olazábal is convinced the United States would have completed the greatest comeback in history and won the Ryder Cup had Shane Lowry not holed his putt on the 18th at Bethpage Black.

Speaking before the PGA Tour Champions’ Constellation FURYK & FRIENDS in Florida, the winning 2012 captain and seven-time Ryder Cup player said the early stages of Sunday’s singles session were the toughest moments of his career.

“Well, I think the team made history,” Olazabal said at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville. “As simple as that.

“We knew it was not going to be easy, especially playing in New York. But I think the team performed really, really well, especially the first two days. 

“Foursomes, fourballs, we managed to win all four sessions, and that gave us a large cushion. And to be totally honest, I didn't think it was going to be that close, or at least it shouldn't have been all that close. 

“But well, all credit to the US team. It’s amazing how they fought; they almost turned things around.

“If Shane didn't made that putt on 18, I think most probably, Team USA would have won the Ryder Cup.”

Olazábal was one of the first to envelop Lowry in an emotional embrace after he rolled in the six foot birdie putt at the last to halve his match with Russell Henley and ensure that Europe would at least retain the trophy.

“You know, the two and a half hours before that moment, I have to say that they were maybe the toughest I've ever experienced in my golfing career, especially because we thought with that cushion, we should have closed the deal well before that,” the Basque legend explained.

“And at that moment, I think it was crucial. That's why it all came out - all the emotions, all the tension, all the stress. 

“And we were very conscious of it. Shane was very conscious of it, and that's why the reaction that we had.”

As Olazábal and Darren Clarke play in Florida, Seamus Power will bid to move up the FedEx Fall rankings in the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi.

The West Waterford man is 130th in the rankings with the top 100 fully exempt next season and the top 125 earning conditional status.

He's joined at the Country Club of Jackson by Danish Ryder Cup rookie Rasmus Hojgaard and his brother Nicolai, as well as European vice captain Francesco Molinari.