In a previous life, I often compiled a list of the “10 biggest local sports events of the year” and prepared it to run on the morning of December 31.

That typically is a slow day in the sports world, and readers often like to have a year recapped for them. And journalists who have an appreciation for writing a sort of history of a year … like doing it.

It was fun to compile, even if it took quite a lot of time.

Not only was it a long piece, it called for going through the previous 364 days of newspapers — to make sure nothing significant was missed.

In fact, on December 31, 1991, I missed something very significant:

Dave Stockton leading the U.S. Ryder Cup team to a controversial and nerve-racking 14.5-13.5 victory at Kiawah Island, in September, the first victory by the U.S. in eight years.

Given how the Ryder Cup has, in the past 20 years turned into something resembling a perpetual trophy owned by the Europeans … Stockton’s achievement seems only more impressive as the years pass.

And my neglecting it seems ever more egregious, and I recall it whenever the Ryder Cup is contested anew, as it has been this weekend.

Stockton defined “local” pretty much from start to finish.

He was a native of San Bernardino, and a San Bernardino High School alumnus, whose primary residence at that time was in nearby Redlands, still. (Or the unincorporated community of Mentone, to be precise.)

I had been in his house, for goodness sake, and seen the driving range he had in his backyard.

He was well known in that part of Southern California for having won two majors — the PGA Championship in 1970 and 1976.

In 1970, Arnold Palmer finished tied for second, behind Stockton, two shots back as close as Arnie ever got to winning the PGA. He had won the other three, and he conceded not getting one PGA was a disappointment. Dave Stockton had a lot to do with that.

In 1976, he won by one shot over Raymond Floyd and Don January on August 16, a Monday, which saw the final round played because of bad weather. It also happened to be my first day at work at the San Bernardino Sun, and I remembered thinking important stuff must happen all the time in that part of the world, if Day 1 was any indication.

It turned out to be the last PGA Tour victory for Stockton.

So, in 1991 he’s the coach, and he worked it.

The part the Euros are still complaining about involved Steve Pate, and American golfer involved in a traffic accident just before the Cup. Stockton sent him out only once in the first two days, the afternoon four-ball, on the Saturday. Pate wasn’t awful, but he and Corey Pavin lost 2-and-1 to Bernard Langer and Colin Montgomerie.

The second day ended with the competition in an 8-8 deadlock.

On the final day, Stockton listed Pate as one of the 12 players in the singles competition, but before he could tee off Stockton announced Pate was hurt and could not play, and Pate’s match with David Gilford was automatically halved — half a point going to each team.

The Euros apparently wanted Pate to play because they thought Gilford could beat him. Not that he had done much of anything significant in his career, at that point, nor would he later. But still.

And off they went. Europe went up 10-8 as Nick Faldo and David Feherety won. Paul Azinger and Pavin won to tie it again, but Europe went up again as Seve Ballesteros beat Wayne Levi.

Chip Beck, Fred Couples and Lanny Wadkins won three of the next four for the U.S., and it was the Yanks leading 13.5-12.5 with two left. One of those was the cancelled Pate match, so it was actually 14-13.

If Langer could win the final match, over Hale Irwin, it would finish 14-14 — and Europe would retain the Cup because the challenger has to have an outright victory to take away the hardware.

Langer had a six-foot par putt to win his match … but missed, and it was halved. And Stockton was a winner.

After our year-ender piece appeared, he wrote me a letter (people still wrote letters, in 1991), asking how his victorious turn as U.S. captain could not have been in the top 10 big local events of 1991.

He was right, of coruse. It was an awful oversight, and I still remember it. Sure, it was a big year for local prep football (the televised afternoon football game between Fontana and Eisenhower!) and whatever else I had in the top 10, but Stockton should have been up there, and probably first.

My excuses? We had focused on the players more than the coach, in our Ryder Cup coverage, and it was a big event, but not played locally.

When dashing through the newspaper I probably didn’t even look at it as a “local” event — when it most certainly was, with Stockton as captain.

Two years later, Tom Watson led the U.S. to victory in England … but since then the U.S. has won only twice in 10 tries.

Stockton and his team were holding off what was about to become a European tide. It was a big deal. What made it worse was that he saw it in our newspaper and felt hurt enough that he wrote me about it.

But I had missed it, at the end of the year, and I have never forgotten — though I hope Dave Stockton has.