Europe edges U.S. in a thrilling finish

NEWPORT, Wales - Graeme McDowell capped off an unforgettable year for himself - and for Europe.

In a Ryder Cup that came down to the very last match Monday, McDowell rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, then closed out Hunter Mahan to give Europe the 141/2 points it needed to reclaim the precious gold trophy.

It was the first time since 1991 that the Ryder Cup was decided by the final singles match, a thriller made possible by the Americans getting big wins from their best players and a stunning comeback by 21-year-old rookie Rickie Fowler.

Leave it to McDowell, the U.S. Open champion, to deliver another career-defining moment.

Under far greater pressure than he faced at Pebble Beach, he turned back the American rally with a birdie putt that seemed to take forever to reach the hole until it tumbled into the cup and set off a ground-shaking roar at Celtic Manor.

"Graeme McDowell was put there for a good reason - he's full of confidence and that showed," European captain Colin Montgomerie said. "That birdie on 16 was just quite unbelievable. Quite unbelievable."

So was the finish.

Europe, ahead by three points going into the final round, took the early lead in eight of the nine matches and appeared on its way to another rout on home soil. It all turned so quickly.

Tiger Woods holed out from the fairway for eagle during a seven-hole stretch that he played in 7-under par. Steve Stricker won the opening match, and Phil Mickelson built a big lead to win late. Then came Fowler, the first PGA Tour rookie to play in the Ryder Cup, winning the last three holes with birdies - including putts of 15 feet on the 17th and 18th - to earn an improbable halve against Edoardo Molinari.

That gave the Americans 131/2 points, and they only needed a halve in the last match to retain the cup. Just as Fowler was being mobbed by his teammates, Mahan made a nervy birdie putt on the 15th to cut McDowell's lead to 1 up.

"The U.S. Open felt like a back nine with my dad back at Portrush compared to that," McDowell said. "I was really nervous there. Wow! It's a different feeling. It's just so much pressure."

It sure didn't look that way as he blasted a tee shot down the middle and hit his approach to 15 feet, leaving him a quick putt.

"The best putt I've hit in my life," McDowell said.

Montgomerie is renowned for a career missing only a major. This felt like one, maybe even better.

"This is one of the finest moments of my golfing - wait a minute - this is the greatest moment of my golfing career," he said.

"We nearly got there today," U.S. captain Corey Pavin said. "We started off a little slow. We came back hard. We almost got there."

Woods had his best Ryder Cup, winning his opening two matches with Stricker and bouncing back from his worst defeat to overwhelm Francesco Molinari on the back nine for a 4-and-3 win.