win an additional two events and record a 15 top-10 finishes. At the end of the year he won the Volvo Masters, the most prestigious win of his career, defeating Nick Faldo by one shot. He would go on to win the European Tour Order of Merit. He would also finish atop the 1989 Ryder Cup standings and play in his only Ryder Cup that year at The Belfry. Although Rafferty did not play well (he lost both team matches he played), he won his singles match against defending Open Championship winner Mark Calcavecchia on the 18th hole for a 1up win. This tight win proved indispensable as the European team struggled on the last day and only barely retained the cup with a 14–14 tie. In 1990 was another great season for Rafferty. He won the Coca-Cola Classic, PLM Open and Ebel European Masters Swiss Open, recorded two runner-ups and had 12 top-10s in 30 official tour events. His excellent play earned him a special foreign invitation to play the Masters for the first time. In the spring he reached his career peak of #16 in the Official World Golf Ranking after a tie for 6th at the Belgian Open. He also qualified for the U.S. Open and PGA Championship; he was the first Irish pro to play in the U.S. Open since the 1940s. The remainder of the early 1990s would see Rafferty play a mixture of some good and more disappointing golf. Although he recorded six official top-10s, including a runner-up finish at the European Pro-Celebrity pro-am, 1991 was a frustrating year. For the first time in five seasons, Rafferty did not win an official international event. He missed a European Tour cut for the first time in years at the Spanish Open. His play at the majors was especially weak. He missed the cut at the Masters, abruptly withdrew from the U.S. Open in the middle of the second round and failed to qualify for the Open Championship for the first time. His withdrawal from the U.S. Open was particularly contentious and he was fined by the European Tour. By the end of season he was in danger of leaving the top 50 in the world rankings. The beginning of the 1992 season suddenly saw Rafferty go on perhaps the hottest stretch of his career. He finished no worse than second place in five consecutive worldwide