Bernhard Langer of Germany was No. 1, followed by Seve Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle and Tom Watson.
Did the spirit of Seve will his comrades onto the courage and fortitude to achieve success?
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"Our team played in the spirit of Seve without ever giving up, " Olazabal said.
Mr. LYON SEVE (Customer): (Through Translator) I'm not worried about France losing its eating traditions.
Westwood, who made his Ryder Cup debut under Seve Ballesteros in 1997, has played 29 matches.
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They were not only playing for themselves, their teammates and their countries, they were playing to honor Seve.
Langer's best finish in the Open was tied second with Tom Watson behind Seve Ballesteros at St Andrews in 1984.
She joins Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Sergio Garcia as continental Europeans who have won the award on their own.
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The pair shot seven-under-par 65s to lead by a stroke from a group which includes Raul Ballesteros, the nephew of Seve Ballesteros.
Lyle was part of Europe's "Big Five" generation in the 1980s and 1990s alongside Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer.
"Now I call myself Seve Mulligan, " he added, referring to the golf rule which allows a second chance to play a shot.
One of those is Rory and Graeme McDowell (2010 U.S. Open champion) played in the 2009 Seve Trophy, which was my first captaincy.
It's always nice to not ever feel that Seve is forgotten by us or by European golf in any way, shape or form.
He was unfair to Tom Kite, the American captain, and he went over the top in praise of his European rival, Seve Ballesteros.
The latter has seen the great amateur golfer Bobby Jones in 1926 and flamboyant Spaniard Seve Ballesteros in 1979 and 1988 among its victors.
As darkness enveloped Medinah Country Club in Chicago, Europe's captain Olazabal talked of how the spirit of Seve Ballesteros had been key to his team's success.
But a 5th major would throw him in a class with Byron Nelson and the recently departed Seve Ballesteros while shrinking the afore-mentioned list to 12.
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Three weeks ago he was not even in the field but he made it as the highest world ranked player not exempt when Seve Ballesteros withdrew.
The Open will also feature numerous tributes to Seve Ballesteros, as this is the first Open to be held since his death recently from brain cancer.
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Sadly for Seve, his game still isn't quite there and he told me afterwards that he felt bad for Jose Maria, who had played well all day.
Faldo lifted the PGA trophy a record four times, Montgomerie, Langer and Alliss are triple champions, while Seve Ballesteros, Tony Jacklin and Ian Woosnam were twice winners.
Since then Seve Ballesteros, Mark James, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and Nick Faldo have all captained Europe once before stepping aside, regardless of the result.
The Saltman brothers, meanwhile, are bidding to become the first brothers in the same Open since Seve and Manuel Ballesteros 25 years ago - when Seve won.
Perhaps my all-time favorite colorful golfer is Severiano (Seve) Ballesteros, who has always played the game in a thrilling way, rarely hitting fairways but somehow escaping from self-induced troubles.
"The whole team spoke to Seve for about 10 minutes and that was very motivational, very passionate and also very sad to hear him, to hear the way he is, " said Montgomerie.
The story of the modern era is clear: While Europe was inspired by the creative genius of Seve Ballesteros, the U.S. team hasn't been able to harness the individual brilliance of Tiger Woods.
Less predictable was the way in which Justin Rose and Ian Poulter turned over Seve and Josa Maria Olazabal, who, lest we forget, are the most successful Ryder Cup pairing of all time.
He also drafted in Ryder Cup great Jose Maria Olazabal during the tournament and invited the Spaniard's ailing former partner Seve Ballesteros to address the team by phone ahead of the event.
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