TWENTY-FOUR hours of controversy surrounding comments attributed to Seve Ballesteros reached an amicable end at The Wynyard Club, when Colin Montgomerie led Great Britain & Ireland to their third successive Seve Trophy victory in comprehensive style.

Before Jose Maria Olazabal had even struck the first tee shot on singles day, a row had erupted between Ballesteros - the man who founded the event five years ago - and the men playing in the great Spaniard's competition.

In interviews with the Sunday papers, Ballesteros had infuriated the golfers on show in the North-East by allegedly claiming he had not been impressed by any of the men at the parklands course.

So, quite expectedly, Continental Europe's Thomas Bjorn was the first to air his disapproval at the host's words.

He suggested all the players on show were fantastic, "regardless of what Seve thinks."

But, in a move to extinguish the anger which threatened to overshadow the final day's play, Ballesteros handed all the players letters to apologise for the quotes credited to him and paid tribute to the members of both sides.

"Certain comments have hurt everybody involved in the Seve Trophy event - the players, the officials, the golf club and the sponsors," said Ballesteros, after watching the European side he usually captains lose by a comfortable five-point margin.

"I feel hurt personally. The reports are unfair. To put words in my mouth that I didn't say is not fair.

"I have tremendous respect for all the players taking part here and I am sure they will understand the position.

"We've had a fantastic four days watching the 20 best players in Europe, playing with great team spirit and passion."

It was the passion and determination shown from Great Britain & Ireland that the thousands of spectators who turned out at The Wynyard will remember for years to come.

Arguably the biggest sporting spectacle to visit this part of the region since the 1966 World Cup had bust-ups, apologies, great shots, bad shots and, most tellingly for the home side, a remarkable comeback.

Faced with the biggest first day deficit to overturn in the history of the event, Montgomerie's team completed an incredible turnaround by bouncing back from 4-1 down on Thursday to turn the final day scoreboard into a sea of red, claiming a comfortable 16½-11½ win.

It turned into something of an anti-climax when Bradley Dredge ensured Britain got their hands on the trophy when he claimed his 2&1 victory over Frenchman Thomas Levet with four matches still out on the course.

Britain had performed magnificently in the singles to put themselves in the driving seat when Dredge and Levet walked on to the 17th green.

Apart from Olazabal's 2&1 success over Montgomerie in the captains' match yesterday, the home countries never looked like slipping up from that point on.

Dredge, Paul Casey, David Howell, Stephen Dodd, Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley all won their matches, while Italian Emanuele Canonica was the only other man to put blue on the scoreboard when he surprisingly beat Padraig Harrington 2&1.

Montgomerie, expected to captain a Ryder Cup team against the United States eventually, believes this triumphant ten is better than any other Seve Trophy team he has had at his disposal.

"British and Irish golf has improved a great deal in the past six years," said the Scot, whose positive rollicking to his players after Thursday's debacle proved his worth as a leader. "So, with that in mind, I would say this was the best team I have worked with."

He also expects many of his players to go on and make next year's Ryder Cup team at the K-Club in Ireland. "Lee Westwood was the only golfer from this country in the world's top 100 not so long ago and now we have several," he said.

"I am delighted for British golf that that is the case and I'm delighted that we have shown again here just how strong it is.

"There were nine from Britain and Ireland in the last Ryder Cup team, I expect us to have a similarly impressive number playing next year."

The Wynyard Club can also be proud of the way it proved it is capable of staging the big occasion - with 18,000, record numbers, walking the fairways over the weekend alone for the biennial showpiece.

Now the hope is for the course to welcome an annual European Tour event, and Montgomerie is convinced that would be a just reward.

"We have got the biggest crowds here we have ever had for this competition.

"Hopefully that will keep growing and growing and we will have even bigger crowds at the next one," said Montgomerie, recalling attendances at Sunningdale, Druid's Glen and Valencia El Saler.

"We know what the people of the North-East are great sports fans and you just look at the football and the Great North Run to show how fanatical people up here are about sport. It has worked well here this week."

Published: 26/09/2005