Jes,
Yeah, near misses in majors, usually from failings on Sunday, just don't count as a stunning emergence.
I recall the Ryder Cup in '95. To beat the crowds, I actually followed Seve on his practice round and he was terrible, but short game did save him as Mark notes. What I really recall during that week was his outlandish gamesmanship.
There were some odd noises/movements at wrong times that seemed to be him disturbing his opponent. There were a few challenges as to who was away. And he repeatedly made his opponents line up short putts, only to concede them just as they prepared to putt.
Sergio's fist pumps and even pre-Cup bravado about Tigers record are mild in comparison to the shennanigans that Seve pulled. Both Larry Nelson and Lanny Wadkins told me that they were eager to play Seve, begging the captain to let them have a crack at him, which kind of hints that the captains do work together to get great pairings.
OT, but with Larry's RC record, had he had any flair at all, he could have been an American RC icon on the order of Seve. One hell of a competitor. Of course, if he had any flair at all, he should have been a captain at one point. However, he was judged too quiet to be effective. Not that anything else has worked well for the Americans......