While it was more the picture of Curtis Strange, head in his hands at the closing ceremony, which went around the world after he bogeyed the last three holes against Nick Faldo, Haas was actually the man who lost the cup.

As he and Philip Walton teed off last-but-one of the 12 singles there was the inevitable feeling around Oak Hill that the game might not matter. America led by two overnight and they had lost the singles only once since 1957.

But how it mattered and how Haas and Walton felt it.

“He was gagging, I was choking. It was an uncomfortable place to be,” he says.

With three holes to play Walton led by three and Europe could not afford for him to let the advantage go. But Haas holed a bunker shot at the 16th, then the Irishman bogeyed the 17th, missing from under six feet. One up, one to play.

“I was playing awful,” remembers the American all too clearly. “I began the week fine, but as it went on I just got worse and worse.

“The Ryder Cup is no different to any other tournament in that some players will play better than others, but it is different in that you’re trying hard to play well right from Tuesday rather than Thursday because you don’t want to be left out at the start.”

Back to the 18th. Haas wishes now he had just “hit it as hard as I could”, but he tried to steer his drive and hooked it deep into the trees.

Walton’s was not a thing of beauty either and neither could make the green of the par four in two. Haas’ third spun then down the green 40 feet from the flag and his opponent, having almost stepped on his ball in the rough, chipped to around 12 feet.

When the American missed Walton had two for it and with the first trickling past the hole and stopping a foot away the handshake came and the European celebrations, led by captain Bernard Gallacher coming on the green and leaping into the air, began.

Haas’ one previous appearance had been in 1983 before worldwide interest in the match exploded.

“In 1995 it was a different animal. The crowds were incredible and I wasn’t ready for what hit me. On the Tuesday morning there were 25,000 people there when we went out to practise.

“I tried to tell some of the younger guys at the Presidents Cup that that’s different. Nothing like this.

“What happened last time was a very big disappointment, but I’ve got another chance now.”

It came only as a wild card, though, and that can only add to the pressure on a player who has not won a US Tour event since 1993 and could, of course, have opted for a quieter life in seniors golf.

“I am sensitive and at the press conference where I was announced as one of the wild cards there were some questions about why Hal hadn’t picked some other players. I took that to mean why did he pick me, but it helped when lots of players and friends rang me and gave me their support.”

Words can mean only so much, however. Deeds are what Haas now seeks.

For him Oak Hill became Choke Hill. He knows how Oakland Hills will be remembered if he – or anybody else, for that matter – messes up again.