"All of the abuse that I got was fairly nasty and that was pretty shameful," he said. "It was only a minority and the crowds were great. I expected them to get behind the American team, which they did, but some people don't know the difference between supporting their team and abusing the opposition team. And that's unfortunate. I'm not prepared to repeat what they were saying. One was a nasty reference to my mother on the 12th tee."

Westwood also spoke about receiving phone calls during the night, made, he said, with the express purpose of upsetting him ahead of the conclusion to the Ryder Cup. There was something else, too. Something quite bizarre. During his match a man dressed as a ghost jumped out at him. Westwood had the guy removed from the golf course.

The European team were downcast in the aftermath of their defeat but heavily supportive of their captain, Nick Faldo, who came in for some heavy cricitism at the post-tournament press conference. Faldo sat there dispassionately as his players defended him at the top table, Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and others staring daggers at those who sought to stick it to Faldo.

The final question of the session wondered whether Faldo will wake up in weeks and months to come and regret some of the tactical blunders he made these past three days. Before Faldo could answer, his assistant, Jose Maria Olazabal, jumped in and said: "That question does not deserve an answer." At the conclusion, Olazabal eye-balled the reporter. All very testy.

America didn't just win the Ryder Cup, didn't just take the old trophy from out of the hands of Europe, they yanked it, absolutely ripped it away from Faldo's grasp in the most emphatic fashion. Leading by two points overnight the Americans ended up with a stirring five point winning margin, 16 and a half to 11 and a half. They won seven of the twelve singles matches, Europe winning a dismal four with the other halved, and celebrated riotously on the 17th green when Jim Furyk holed the putt that beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and settled the outcome of the matches.

It was the biggest defeat Europe have suffered since 1981 but there was an air of inevitability about the whole thing. Rarely during the entire day did you get a particularly strong sense that Europe were going to win, not with their biggest names continuing to struggle and with the Americans shooting the lights out. Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Padraig Harrington had not won a match on the opening two days and they didn't win their singles games either, all three beaten, or in Garcia's case, hammered.

"Today was an incredible day," said a beaming Paul Azinger. "The crowds were beautiful and they were well-behaved, and the European team and players, I'm proud of them. They really showed a lot of class in defeat. I'm just so honoured that I was able to be here and do this. The golf was spectacular on both sides, and our guys just came out on top. They just took an everything-to-gain kind of attitude into this competition, and I couldn't be happier. They really grinded it out. We all know it could have gone either way the first day and the second day; it just tilted our way."

Garcia was in the first match of the day against the outstanding Anthony Kim who played breathtaking golf throughout. Kim was 7-under for the 14 holes he played, blowing a subdued Garcia to smithereens and winning 5&4. So focused was the American that on the 14th green he walked off thinking the match was still alive. He was so in the moment that he hadn't a clue that Garcia's race was run. "Well, I was welcoming the challenge," said Kim. "Sergio is a friend of mine, a great player, and I've looked up to him for a long time, so I have a tremendous amount of respect. I wanted to come out here and give the fans what they wanted to see. I got chills up my spine the whole day today, and I'm loving every minute of it. I wouldn't trade this for $10 million. This has been an experience of a lifetime."

For his part, Garcia said he just couldn't do anything right which was a fairly accurate summary of the way he played.

Paul Casey did well to get half a point from Hunter Mahan in match two - Mahan sank a 40-footer for birdie on the 17th to go 1-up and then put it in the water on the 18th - and in matches three and four there were the first European victories, Robert Karlsson beating Justin Leonard 5&3 and the brilliant Justin Rose beating Phil Mickelson 3&2. After that though, rows of red numbers and American victories.

Kenny Perry, the old trooper, did for Henrik Stenson 3&2. Perry was 7-under for his round. Then Boo Weekley knocked over Oliver Wilson in an outstanding match. Weekley, the darling of Valhalla, walked off the first tee waving at the crowd and riding an imaginary horse - believe me, it's true - and then played some of the finest golf of his life. He was also 7-under. It was Wilson's misfortune to have drawn him for Wilson played wonderfully himself despite going down 4&2.

At that point America needed just two more points for victory and the first of them came when JB Holmes bombed a drive up the 17th and played a wedge to three feet in his match with Soren Hansen. He knocked in the putt and Valhalla went wild. Just one more point to go now. It was never in the slightest danger. Up the 17th came Furyk, Jimenez alongside him. Furyk was 2-up and only needed a half. He got it and that was it. America had taken back the Ryder Cup with four matches still on the golf course.

With the golf course in raptures the remaining games carried on. Graeme McDowell was superb in beating Stewart Cink 2&1 while Ian Poulter was excellent yet again in his dismissal of Steve Stricker 3&2. The bottom two matches went against Europe, though. Westwood lost 2&1 to Ben Curtis who hadn't won up until that point and Harrington, a desperate disappointment, lost to Chad Campbell, a man who could hardly find a fairway all week.

There were many heroes. Weekley being one of them. "It's been amazing, it really has," he said. I can't put it into words or anything. I have to sit down and think about it. I'm still shaking and nervous. Your arm hairs stand up and you get chills when the crowd start hollering your name and USA. The adrenaline, it's just unreal."

It was fitting that one as big as Boo had the last word.