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When Brazilian winger Denilson made his world record £21.5million move from Sao Paulo to Real Betis shortly before his 21st birthday in 1998, he was heralded as the Selecao’s next superstar.

And while Denilson would go on to win 61 Brazilian caps and make more than 500 career appearances, he never quite reached his potential, with FourFourTwo ranking him at No.1 in a 2015 rundown of disappointing club record signings.

But a 17-year professional career that took in six major tournaments is not bad going for a player who learned his trade on the streets, as he recalls to FourFourTwo.

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Denilson on his journey from the streets to the Selecao

Denilson in action for Brazil (Image credit: Getty)

“What truly fascinated me as a child was the street football, those endless two-versus-two battles, with the goals marked out by a pair of flip-flops,” Denilson tells us.

“Being left-footed, I’d constantly beg to borrow someone else’s left boot. My parents couldn’t afford to keep buying me new pairs, and since I played non-stop, my boots wore out quickly. Sometimes I’d end up playing with one bare right foot and someone else’s boot on my left.

Denilson won 61 caps for Brazil (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Beyond the street kickabouts, I grew up in the varzea – the gritty, uneven dirt pitches of Sao Paulo’s amateur football scene. It’s where I learned two priceless lessons. The first was losing any fear.

“The varzea toughened me up – I was always playing against older, stronger lads and got intimidated a lot in the beginning. Over time, I became braver.

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“Dribbling was my natural weapon, and the more they tried to scare me off, the more I wanted to beat them with the ball at my feet. I got kicked, shoved into walls and fences, was fouled constantly, but kept going.

“Out there, I grew a thick skin, so when you finally get to step into a professional derby under pressure, you’ve already lived that battle countless times. At only 10 years old, I’d already learned not to be intimidated.”

Denilson celebrates with Cafu after scoring for Brazil against Peru in the semi-finals of the 1997 Copa America. (Image credit: Getty Images)

“The second gift that the varzea gave me was ball control. On those rough, bumpy pitches, you needed to have sharp coordination and lightning-quick reactions just to keep a move going.

“You couldn’t trust the ground, so you had to improvise constantly. That chaos helped to sharpen me technically.”

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Quite incredibly, this managed to be an even uglier day for the United States of America off the golf course than it was on it. Never in his wildest of dreams could Luke Donald have imagined this scenario for his imperious European team. They will head into the final day of the Ryder Cup leading 11½–4½ and requiring a mere two and a half more points from 12 singles contests for retention. The fat lady is gargling.

There will be analysis – and plenty of it – about American capitulation under the erratic leadership of Keegan Bradley but the scale of what they have run into must also be recognised. Tommy Fleetwood has won within half a point of the US tally on his own. Perhaps Bradley should deploy pairs of golfers again for day three. The Europeans have already made history, courtesy of their largest ever pre-singles lead.

Europe have therefore enjoyed the last laugh over American galleries who have let themselves and this sport down. Thuggish, moronic and personal insults towards Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry especially dominated Saturday at Bethpage Black. Yet as Europe led their hosts the merriest of dances, thousands of punters streamed towards the exit gates. Resale prices for Sunday tickets, which were $750 (£560) to begin with, have crashed online.

“The job is never done till it’s done,†said a typically pragmatic Donald. “So I’m not going to sit here and be complacent. I know how strong the US are. They will have plenty of fight in them, they had plenty of fight today. Our guys had a lot, too, though.â€

An example of how one-sided this Ryder Cup has become can be taken from the clock. When JJ Spaun and Xander Schauffele defeated Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka at 6.20pm, it was the first US point on the board since 10.38am. In between times, McIlroy had backed off a birdie attempt on the 6th green with the utterance: “I am not going to putt until they shut up.â€

Shane Lowry reacts to the crowd as Rory McIlroy looks to putt on the 6th. Photograph: Harry How/Getty Images

Security, lots of it, followed McIlroy and Lowry over the back nine of a successful fourball clash with Justin Thomas and Cameron Young. While Thomas did his best to quieten hecklers at times, he also whipped up the audience. Lowry was held back by his caddie at one stage, with scores of offensive punters removed from the crowd. Whether reflective of a wider society or simply a New York Ryder Cup, this was a dismal scene.

McIlroy turned into politician mode when asked to assess what he was subjected to. “When you play an away Ryder Cup, it’s really, really challenging,†said the Masters champion. “It’s not for me to say. People can be their own judge of whether they took it too far or not. I’m just proud of us for being able to win today with what we had to go through.â€

Quick GuideRyder Cup singles pairings and timingsShow

12.02 EDT/17.02 BST Cameron Young v Justin Rose
12.13 EDT/17.13 BST Justin Thomas v Tommy Fleetwood
12.24 EDT/17.24 BST Bryson DeChambeau v Matt Fitzpatrick
12.35 EDT/17.35 BST Scottie Scheffler v Rory McIlroy
12.46 EDT/17.46 BST Patrick Cantlay v Ludvig Ã…berg
12.57 EDT/17.57 BST Xander Schauffele v Jon Rahm
13.08 EDT/18.08 BST JJ Spaun v Sepp Straka
13.19 EDT/18.19 BST Russell Henley v Shane Lowry
13.30 EDT/18.30 BST Ben Griffin v Rasmus Højgaard
13.41 EDT/18.41 BST Collin Morikawa v Tyrrell Hatton
13.52 EDT/18.52 BST Sam Burns v Robert MacIntyre
14.03 EDT/19.03 BST Harris English v Viktor Hovland

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There was even a rumpus inside the ropes. Justin Rose not unreasonably felt Bryson DeChambeau and his caddie were fiddling about on his line as he waited to putt on the 15th. The Englishman’s request for the American duo to move brought a furious reaction. The matter rumbled on to the walk to the 16th tee, where DeChambeau had a pop at Fleetwood. The intervention of Fleetwood’s caddie Ian Finnis – all 6ft 7in of him – prompted DeChambeau to beat a hasty retreat. “I was waiting to putt, the boys were obviously working on their read,†Rose explained. “Obviously they going through a lot of calculations and bits and pieces.

“I waited a few seconds and then I felt like they came up again. I questioned whether … I was like: ‘It’s my putt, right?’ Or however I said it. Maybe I didn’t say it as politely as I could have said it in the moment but by no means was there any disrespect or anything like that. Obviously it was taken the wrong way.â€

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Rose and Fleetwood defeated DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler 3&2. This has been an utterly miserable Ryder Cup for Scheffler. On Saturday morning, the world No 1 played with Russell Henley, losing by a hole to Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland. Rahm had combined with Tyrrell Hatton again for foursomes success over Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. McIlroy and Fleetwood eased to a win against Harris English and Collin Morikawa in the same section.

The final match of the day was in the balance playing the final hole. Sam Burns and Cantlay held out hope of at least half a point from Hatton and Fitzpatrick. Europe had other ideas, both golfers hitting approaches to tap-in range. Fitzpatrick’s effort from a fairway bunker was special and a fitting denouement for those in maroon shirts. Europe took both sessions 3-1.

The Bethpage Black scoreboard spells out the scale of Europe’s lead. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Hovland was due to partner Fitzpatrick in the afternoon before a late switch. The Norwegian has been troubled recently by a neck injury, which flared up during his foursomes match. Should Hovland be unable to play in the singles, the US would also remove a player, with both sides taking half a point. This would clearly edge Europe even closer to victory. Neither Donald nor Hovland will want such a situation to play out. Nonetheless, given the lack of sportsmanship afforded to them from the galleries here, the Europeans do not owe this event anything. They also, it must be noted, need no help.

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

With “preferred lies” in effect under wet weather rules, a player marked his ball, moved it a club-length and played his shot without removing the marker. Penalty? —Mustapha Hassan, Abuja, Nigeria

Thought-provoking question, Mustapha, and Rules Guy is humbled by his column’s global reach.

After some deep thought, we have landed at no penalty. Under Model Local Rule E-3, preferred lies does not require marking, as this ball is not being replaced, so the penalty for failing to remove the ball marker doesn’t apply to one that was not used to mark the spot of a ball to be lifted and replaced.

For more preferred lies guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules Guy: When playing lift, clean and place, are you allowed to give yourself a better angle to the hole?

By:

Rules Guy

We were playing with the “lift, clean and place” local rule in effect. A player in my foursome was in the fairway and started to roll the ball with his clubhead before realizing that it’s lift, not roll. He proceeded to mark his ball and go through the procedure correctly. But had the player committed a violation by first touching the ball with his club? —Dudley Campbell, Scottsdale, Ariz.

There may be no erasers on golf pencils, but there’s a very handy one in the Rules of Golf. Dudley, say hello to Rule 14.5, aka the “Eraser” rule. (No, Rules Guy didn’t make up that nickname; it’s a real thing.)

This rule allows for correcting without penalty a mistake in dropping, placing, replacing or substituting a ball, as long as it’s done prior to the player making the next stroke. So, while it is in fact required to use your hand when placing a ball, in this instance, since the mistake was corrected, it falls under “no harm, no foul.”

Had it not been corrected, the sanction would have been one penalty stroke for replacing in a wrong way.

Want to find the right gear for your bag in 2025?Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

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