Passion (v 2)

Ian Poulter, who secured Europe's first point in yesterday's Ryder Cup singles by defeating Matt Kuchar 5&4, was delighted to talk about "the best tournament in the world":

"I'm pretty passionate about this format. I love the Ryder Cup, I always have. I've watched so many matches over the years, Sevé [Ballesteros], Ollie [José María Olazábal], Colin [Montgomerie], Nick [Faldo], all the guys – they just pour out passion upon passion in this event," the 34-year-old said. "I love it. I love it from the first tee. I love it for the songs. And I love it with 11 team-mates. It truly is the best tournament in the world, and will always be. I said I was going to win today and I won a point. But more importantly, the team, as a team, managed to win the trophy back. This is a special day, for European golf to put on a display in Wales, with this many fans, is just truly unbelievable."

Passion (v 2)

Passion (v 1)

 (v 10

Passion (v 1)

Performing Under Pressure

'I had a massive lot of emotions going through my head. That was the most difficult nine holes of golf I have ever played in my life. I was really nervous on every shot. The second shot at 16 was the greatest second shot of my career, and the putt on 16 was the greatest putt of my career. I imagined winning and losing in the same breath. That's just the way golf is - there are good times and bad times, great shots and bad shots. That is what makes this game so great.' Graeme McDowell, 2010 European Ryder Cup team

Performing Under Pressure

Team Spirit

After the loss of the 2010 Ryder Cup to the Europeans, Hunter Mahan of the U.S. team was overcome with emotion. He was taking the brunt of the blame for his team's loss, as any athlete would, but his teammates would have none of it. 

In particular, Stewart Cink in the video below shows great leadership, reminiscent of Theodore Roosevelt’s famous 1910 speech at the Sorbonne in Paris:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Team Spirit

Passion and Desire

Passion and Desire

Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion

Benjamin Zander is the music director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the co-author of The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life. He has an interesting perspective on leadership and success:

'The conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. My picture appears on the front of the CD but the conductor doesn't make a sound. He depends for his power on his ability to make other people powerful.

And that changed everything for me. It was totally life-changing. People in my orchestra came up to me and said, "Ben, what happened?" That's what happened. I realised my job was to awaken possibility in other people. And of course, I wanted to know whether I was doing that. And you know how you find out? You look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining, you know you're doing it.

And, I have a definition of success. For me it's very simple. It's not about wealth and fame and power. It's about how many shining eyes I have around me.'

Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion