Luke Donald did his job perfectly for Team Europe on Sunday.

With his team trailing 10-6, captain Jose Maria Olazabal sent former world No. 1 and Northwestern alum Donald out first in Sunday’s singles in hopes of building some quick momentum for his team.

Donald didn’t disappoint. His opponent, long-hitting Bubba Watson, had been a momentum generated for the U.S. the first two days of the 39th Ryder Cup, but not on Sunday. Donald won Nos. 2, 4 and 11 with birdies and No. 12 with a par to go 4-up.

Watson got two holes back with birdies at the 15th and 16th, one with a chip-in, before Donald closed him out with a sand save par at the 17th for a 2 and 1 win. That stage for Europeans’ epic comeback.

“It was a big honor for me that Ollie (Olazabal) had enough trust in me to go out and get that first point for Europe,’’ said Donald. “I did what I had to do.’’

This Ryder Cup, Donald’s fourth, was a strange one. His first two matches, in foursomes, were blowout losses. One ended on the 12th hole the other on the 15th.

Just a few minutes after the second loss things got better in a hurry. Donald, teaming with Sergio Garcia, put up a 1-up victory over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker – the first indication that Team Europe wasn’t dead even before a singles match was played.

Prior to the competition Donald was hopeful that his popularity in Chicago would at least partially defuse crowd partisanship for the Americans. At least he was not quite viewed as the enemy throughout.

“It certainly helped having some local support,’’ said Donald. “I felt a lot of love from the crowd, and it was just a feeling of relief when the game was over. Bubba pushed me hard at the end.’’

It was Donald’s job to set a positive tone for his team after a largely dismal first two days.

“Our spirits were low halfway through the afternoon (on Saturday), and when we won those last two matches we really had a pep in our step. We still had an opportunity to make history. We felt that Seve (the late Seve Ballesteros) was watching down on us.’’

Ballesteros played his last Ryder Cup match in 1995 and captained a winning European team in 1997, so Donald was never his teammate, but all the Euros used golf bags emblazoned with Ballesteros’ likeness.

Donald’s unique position as a hometown player competing for the visiting team produced only mediocre results. Point-wise it was his worst Ryder Cup. Donald made his first Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick in 2004 and went 2-1-1. He was more successful in the next two, going 3-0-0 in 2006 and 3-1-0 in 2010. He didn’t play in 2008.

In his four Ryder Cups Donald played two on American soil and two in Europe.

“It’s always tough to play away from home in a Ryder Cup, but I actually felt somewhat loved this week – even though I was playing for the Euros. It was nice to hear all the cheers.’’

There may be no better match play competitor in Ryder Cup history than England’s Ian Poulter. He’s kept Team Europe alive – at least barely – through two days of the 39th staging of the event at Medinah, and he gave a pulsating finish to Saturday’s session.

After playing partner Rory McIlroy made birdie at No. 13 Poulter reeled off five birds in a row, the last of which clinched a 1-up victory over Americans Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson. Poulter and McIlroy were 2-down when their run began.

“We had to make birdies and – wow! – five in a row. It was awesome,’’ said Poulter, who is 3-0-0 this week, even though his team trails the U.S. 10-6 going into Sunday’s concluding 12 singles matches.

Poulter, who made the European team as a captain’s pick this time, ran his career Ryder Cup record to 11-3-0. He won his morning matches Friday and Saturday with another Englishman, Justin Rose, as his partner.

European captain Jose Maria Olazabal rested Poulter on Friday afternoon, but sent him off first Saturday. Poulter was good throughout but saved his best for the last five holes. His first two birdies came off great bunker shots and his last was the best of all – a 15-footer as darkness was setting in.

“After 13 I could have walked in,’’ in said McIlroy, the No. 1-ranked player in the world. “It was a Poulter shoot from there on in, and it was a joy to watch. He’s very intense, and when the putts start going in he gets that look in his eye. He looks right through you. This event brings the best out of Ian.’’

“I surprised myself,’’ said Poulter. “In match play I love the fight. You stare your opponent in the face. In match play I’m tough to play against. It’s that simple.’’

In addition to his sterling Ryder Cup record Poulter won the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in 2010 and the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2011. Though ranked No. 28 in the world, he was the only player to finish in the top 10 at three of the four major championships this year.

Though he’s built a reputation off his match play record Poulter isn’t bad in singles, either. He was 3-0-0 in his Ryder Cup singles matches in 2004, 2008 and 2010.

“It’s pretty fun, this Ryder Cup,’’ said Poulter, who believes his team can get at least the eight points it needs to retain the trophy today.

“You can win from this position,’’ he insisted. “It’s been done in the past (by the U.S. in 1999), and it will be done again.’’

Opening day at the 39th Ryder Cup didn’t go well for Team Europe on Friday, but the gang that won four of the last five competitions did win one battle.

The two captain’s picks made by European captain Jose Maria Olazabal were twice as productive as the four captain’s picks made by U.S. captain Davis Love III.

Different selection methods were used to decide the rosters of the two teams. The top five on the European PGA Tour were automatic picks for Olazabal as were the next top five (not counting those players) in the world rankings.

So, all that Olazabal had to pick were England’s Ian Poulter and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, and both of them played big roles in taking down Tiger Woods on Thursday.

Poulter and fellow Englander Justin Rose took care of Woods and his long-time partner Steve Stricker 2-1 in the morning foursomes and Colsaerts did almost all the work himself when he paired with Lee Westwood for a 1-up win in the last four-ball match of the afternoon.

Europe trails after Day 1 by a 5-3 margin, but its captain’s picks went 2-0. By comparison Love’s four choices – Dustin Johnson, Stricker, Brandt Snedeker and Jim Furyk were a combined 1-4.

Poulter may not have earned an automatic berth on the team, but he may just as well have been one because he was an obvious choice for Olazabal. In three previous Ryder Cups Poulter was a star for Europe, posting an 8-3-0 record, and he was the only player with top-10 finishes in three of the year’s four major championships.

Two of Poulter’s three Ryder Cup losses came when Woods was an opponent. This time, though, Poulter holed a bunker shot and made a critical five-foot par save as he and Rose never trailed.

Colsaerts, 29, earned his captain’s pick with a strong finish to a season that included a title in the Volvo World Match Play tourney. One of the longest hitters in Europe, he is the first player from Belgium to play in the Ryder Cup, and his debut may well be the most spectacular in the event’s history. He was 10-under-par on his own ball, making eight birdies and an eagle.

“I don’t know what to say,’’ said Colsaerts. “When I was a kid I dreamed of being in this tournament, and it felt wonderful to produce on such a big stage.’’

“I had the best seat in the house to watch it,’’ said Westwood, long one of Europe’s best Ryder Cuppers. “His round was a joy to watch. I didn’t really have a lot to do. Everything he looked at went in.’’

Colsaerts’ biggest putt was a clutch 25-footer with a two-foot break for birdie at No. 17. The Euros needed it with Woods’ coin marker sitting three feet from the cup for the birdie that could have evened the match had Colsaerts missed.

While Olazabal made good captain’s picks, he didn’t make full use of them Thursday. Poulter played only in the morning and Colsaerts only in the afternoon.

“Ollie (Olazabal) really wanted to get everybody playing on Friday, so four guys had to change after the morning round,’’ said Poulter. “I realize we’re a team, and that team is very, very, very strong this year. He said he would like to keep me fresh for Saturday and Sunday.’’

Pittsburgh’s Nathan Smith made U.S. golf history Thursday en route to earning another coveted invitation to next April’s Masters tournament.

Smith became the first four-time winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur – the national championship for players 25 and over — with a tense victory over Canadian Garrett Rank in the 36-hole final at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest.

“I gutted it out. I don’t know how I did it,’’ said Smith. “It’s pretty surreal to do something that no one else has done.’’

Rank, who hoped to become the 32-year-old tourney’s youngest champion and first foreign winner, found himself 3-down twice before winning three straight holes to pull even on the 33rd.

Two holes later, however, the match swung to Smith for good when Rank stubbed a difficult chip shot from green-side rough. Rank, who turned 25 three days before the tournament, had already conceded Smith a par putt when his chip rolled past the cup and down a steep slope on the green. He was left with a 30-foot putt to halve the hole but couldn’t get it to drop.

“It was a bad chip,’’ said Rank, who works as a referee in the Ontario Hockey League. “My lie was dicey, but I had momentum and was feeling good so I went for it.’’

Both players parred No. 18, Rank missing a 15-footer that would have sent the match to extra holes.

Smith became the 16th player to win the same U.S. Golf Assn. national championship four times. His other wins were in 2003, 2009 and 2010, but Thursday’s was the most difficult.

His first title came after his opponent in the finals withdrew because of injury and Smith was 7-up in his other two title matches when his foe was closed out. His latest win broke a tie with another Pennsylvania golfer, Jay Sigel, who won the Mid-Am three times between 1983 and 1987.

No golfer in the 32-year history of the U.S. Mid-Amateur has won the tournament four times. Nathan Smith could be the first to do it today at Conway Farms, in Lake Forest.

Smith, from Pittsburgh, won the national championship for amateurs 25 and over in 2003, 2009 and 2010. He advanced to another final with a 3 and 1 win over Tim Jackson, of Germantown, Tenn., on Wednesday.

Only Canadian Garrett Rank stands in the way of Smith breaking a tie with Jay Sigel, who won three times between 1983 and 1987. Rank and Smith will determine the champion in a 36-hole match that begins at 7 a.m.

Rank, who reached the final with a 1-up victory over South Carolina history teacher Todd White in Wednesday’s semifinals, will be playing for some history, too. He could be the youngest player to win the Mid-Am as well as the first foreign player to do it. Rank turned 25, and eligible for the tourney, three days before this year’s championship started.

Smith, who was the youngest champion when he won his first title as a 25-year-old in 2003, has a 36-4 record in the tourney over the years as he goes after his fourth title.

“Doing it would be unbelievable,’’ said Smith. “But I’m a long way from that. This has been a fun event, and I’ve enjoyed playing it over the years. It means a lot to me just because I care so much about amateur golf. It’s about as pure as it gets.’’

“I’m disappointed,’’ said Jackson, the champion in 1994 and 2001, “but Nathan’s probably the best Mid-Am golfer going these days. I knew beating him would be a tall order.’’

This year’s Mid-Am started with 3,810 entries nation-wide and 264 qualified for the finals that began on Saturday at Conway Farms and Lake Forest neighbor Knollwood Club.

Last of the players with Chicago connections – Dennis Bull (Illinois State alum) and Matthew Mattare (Notre Dame) — bowed out in Wednesday morning’s quarterfinals. So did Californian Casey Boynes, at 56 the oldest qualifier for the finals.

CARMEL, Ind. – Sunday’s wrapup to the BMW Championship didn’t bode well for the U.S. team’s chances in the upcoming Ryder Cup matches at Medinah.

Two members of the European Ryder Cup team, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, played together in the next-to-the-last twosome and finished at the top of the leaderboard with McIlroy reinforcing his status as the world’s No. 1 golfer.

Winning his second straight event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs, he shot four rounds in the 60s en route to posting a 20-under-par 268 for the 72 holes. Despite a bogey on the last hole he had a two-stroke cushion on Westwood and American Ryder Cupper Phil Mickelson, who started the last 18 tied for the lead with Vijay Singh.

McIlroy, 23, from Northern Ireland, notched his third win in his last four starts. The stretch started with a title at the year’s last major – the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, S.C., and he also won last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston. The made him the fourth player to win two FedEx Cup playoff events in the same year, the others being Tiger Woods in 2007 and Singh and Camilo Villegas in 2008. In the last two weeks McIlroy is 40 under par for eight rounds.

“I’m just on a great run at the moment,’’ said McIlroy. `I’m playing well, I’m confident. I just hope to keep it going.’’

He’ll have the chance to claim the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus in two weeks at The Tour Championship in Atlanta. Then comes the Ryder Cup matches, the biennial team event that highlights the season.

“If (McIlroy) needs a partner, I don’t mind,’’ quipped Westwood, who was a world No. 1-ranked player before McIlroy. “He’s a talent. I played with him when he was 13, and you could see it then. He’s just maturing all the time. And he’s a very, very good player.’’

McIlroy shot 67, Westwood 69, Mickelson 70 and Singh 73 with the title on the line.

“My timing was just a fraction off,’’ said Mickelson, who made 10 birdies en route to posting a 64 in the third round. “I wasn’t quite getting the ball on line with my irons and my putter was just a little bit off . But I’m really pleased with the way my game has come around the last two weeks.’’

As far as the playoffs are concerned, the new top five in the point standings — McIlroy, Woods, Nick Watney, Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker – all can win the Cup with a win at Atlanta. Woods tied for fourth Sunday with fellow American long ball hitter Robert Garrigus after losing his touch on Crooked Stick’s par-5s. He played them in 9-under over the first three rounds but settled for four pars on the long holes on Sunday.

Bill Haas, who won the FedEx Cup last year, wasn’t among the 30 who qualified for Atlanta. Neither were D.A. Points and Mark Wilson, the last Chicago players left in the playoffs.

MARION, IL. – The college players’ domination of the Illinois State Amateur golf tournament is over.

Collegians had won eight straight times until Glenview’s Quinn Prchal came through with rounds of 66-69 on Thursday at The Links at Kokopelli to notch a two-stroke victory over Derek Meinhart of Mattoon. Prchal went through the three-day 72-hole test in 8-under-par 272.

A recent Glenbrook South graduate, Prchal hasn’t played a college event yet, but it won’t be long. He’ll play in his last junior event next week in Greensboro, N.C., then is off to Princeton University for the start of his freshman year.

Prchal, 18, didn’t qualify for either the Illinois Open or U.S. Amateur and hadn’t won a tournament since a December junior event in Florida. He wasn’t completely surprised by his breakthrough in his first appearance in the 82nd annual State Am, however.

“I just followed my routine and hit a lot of fairways and greens and made a number of short putts,’’ said Prchal, who tied for fourth in the Class 3A high school tourney in the fall.

The last non-collegian to win the Illinois Am was Bloomgton’s Todd Mitchell, who took back-to-back titles in 2002 and 2003. He tied for third Thursday after leading the tournament through 36 holes and starting fast on Thursday. He made three birdies in his first five holes.

“Then it vanished,’’ said Mitchell, “but I’ve got to hand it to (Prchal). He was 5-under today, and that’s playing very, very well.’’

Prchal, who plans to study engineering at Princeton, isn’t committing to a career in golf despite the promise he showed at Kokopelli, the southern-most location ever for the championship.

“I plan to play all four years in college and should be able to gauge my play then,’’ said Prchal, who plays most of his golf at the Glenview Park District course and The Glen Club in Glenview and has worked with veteran teaching pro Ed Oldfield Sr. for the last seven years at the nearby Willowhill nine-holer.

Not even the closest pursuer to Prchal was a collegian. Runner-up Meinhart, 34, completed his sixth State Am. The vice president of Innovative Staff Solutions, he qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2008, 2010 and 2011. Mitchell has also focused on the Mid-Am, which brings its 2012 finals to Conway Farms in Lake Forest next month.

Mitchell shared third with Frankfort’s Brian Bullington, who was trying to become the third straight Illinois Amateur winner off the University of Iowa golf team.