Phil Mickelson leaped higher than when he won his first Masters. CHASKA, Minnesota (Reuters) - Ryan Moore ended a long wait for U.S. Ryder Cup redemption when he clinched a rousing win over Europe at Hazeltine on Sunday, beating Lee Westwood to allow the Americans to reclaim the golden trophy in golf's top team competition. Not only was this a scene from Sunday at Hazeltine, it was eight years ago at Valhalla. In a radio interview going into the Ryder Cup, Love was trying to explain that the Americans didn’t have to do anything “super human” when he said, “This is the best team maybe ever assembled.”

Ultimately, this wasn’t about measuring against the past as much as it was building to the future. “You keep losing, you feel like you have to do something different,” said Love, who avoided becoming the first U.S. captain to lose the Ryder Cup twice. It was Reed who Love sent out in the opening match against Rory McIlroy in an effort for the U.S. to stave off any early European comeback. McIlroy’s putter went cold, and Reed holed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to secure the 1-up victory. Mickelson was under pressure all week and delivered 2 1/2 points, including a halve with Sergio Garcia in which both birdied the final two holes. Moore finished eagle-birdie-par for a 1-up victory over Lee Westwood, and the celebration was on. It worked so well – a 16½-11½ victory over Europe in 2008 – that when someone asked Azinger if he’d like to do it again, Mickelson didn’t give him a chance to answer. The 24-year-old Pieters set a European rookie record by registering four points and became the first Ryder debutant since 1999 to play in all five sessions. But rhetorical ridicule and backswing blurts are different from several thousand fans — all of whom came to cheer for their team to win — cheering when something happens that helps their team win. BY the time you’re reading this on Sunday morning, we will be into the final day of this year’s Ryder Cup, the closest thing golf has to a World Cup. There were so many elements to the week that made this U.S. victory monumental beyond the fact that for at least these next two years before the Ryder Cup is contested again, in France in 2018, they put an end to the European dominance.
In golf, the United States wins the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2008.