| Europe | 16½-11½ | United States |
Europe wins the Ryder Cup
Singles (Sunday)
| Europe | 6½-5½ | United States |
| Graeme McDowell | won 2&1 | Jordan Spieth |
| Henrik Stenson | won 1up | Patrick Reed |
| Rory McIlroy | won 5&4 | Rickie Fowler |
| Justin Rose | halved | Hunter Mahan |
| Stephen Gallacher | won 3&1 | Phil Mickelson |
| Martin Kaymer | won 4&2 | Bubba Watson |
| Thomas Bjorn | won 4&3 | Matt Kuchar |
| Sergio Garcia | won 1up | Jim Furyk |
| Ian Poulter | halved | Webb Simpson |
| Jamie Donaldson | won 5&3 | Keegan Bradley |
| Lee Westwood | won 3&2 | Jimmy Walker |
| Victor Dubuisson | halved | Zach Johnson |
EUROPE continued their recent dominance of the Ryder Cup after a comprehensive victory over the United States at Gleneagles.
Welsh rookie Jamie Donaldson scored the decisive point as the Europeans made it six wins out of the last seven, and eight out of the last 10 with a 16½-11½ triumph.
Resuming 10-6 down, the Americans needed the equivalent of the Miracle of Medinah to happen, except this time in their favour - and, to their credit, they started brightly.
Jordan Spieth went three-up after five against Graeme McDowell, while Hunter Mahan was four-up on Justin Rose after just six holes.
The fact that neither Spieth nor Mahan would end up winning their matches, however, says everything about how the day panned out.
Indeed, the whole weekend followed the same pattern of the United States starting well on each day before Europe roared back with an even better performance.
On Friday and Saturday, the Americans won the two morning fourballs sessions by 2½ to 1½ - but Europe utterly dominated the afternoon foursomes contests, winning both 3½-½ for a 7-1 margin overall.
Rose and his Swedish playing partner Henrik Stenson were the form guys over the first two days for Europe, winning each of the three matches they played together.
The pairing of world number one Rory McIlroy and third-ranked Sergio Garcia was less successful, though.
Defeated 1up by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the fourballs on Friday, McIlroy and Garcia could only manage a half in their first foursomes match against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.
It went slightly better on Saturday as McIlroy and Garcia beat Mahan and Jim Furyk 3&2 in the foursomes - and the bigger tactical errors overall came from American captain Tom Watson.
On Saturday, the successful Mickelson and Bradley partnership bizarrely failed to feature in either session.
And earlier, Watson had omitted rookie pairing Spieth and Patrick Reed from the Friday foursomes despite them showing great confidence to beat Ian Poulter and Stephen Gallacher 5&4 in fourballs.
Indeed, if the United States are to take anything from another defeat, it should be the commendable spirit which was on display from their younger players.
Yes, Reed may have wound up the crowd a little with some of his antics - but he backed up his touch of egotism with a 1up win in the singles over Stenson.
Spieth was less assured, losing his way horribly in the middle of his match to succumb 2&1 to Graeme McDowell.
And, by then, fellow Northern Irishman McIlroy had already scored Europe's first point of the day, hitting seven birdies and an eagle to blow away Fowler 5&4.
Soon afterwards, Martin Kaymer followed this up by collecting another comfortable point for Europe.
German Kaymer - who made the winning putt in Illinois two years ago - holed a stunning chip on 16 for a far more straight-forward 4&2 victory this time against a low-key Bubba Watson.
Ever so briefly, the tide turned towards the Americans as Matt Kuchar completed a 4&3 win over Dane Thomas Bjorn, and Mickelson beat local favourite Gallacher 2&1.
Yet, even at that stage, Europe still held a 13-9 lead and always looked to have enough in reserve.
Man of the weekend Rose confirmed his half - and a fine unbeaten set of five matches - after Mahan messed up badly on the 18th.
And so, standing a half-point away from a retention and a point away from an overall win, it had simply become a matter of who would be the man in the right place at the right time for Europe.
It quickly became apparent that the answer would be Donaldson - although it was, of course, more than just sheer blind luck on his part.
The 38-year-old from Pontypridd had played well all weekend - scoring three points from four - and, in his singles match against Bradley, he established a good, early lead.
He then held it throughout, ultimately winning 5&3 after a magnificent lofted approach shot to within four feet of the pin on the 15th.
It was truly a shot worthy of winning the competition and Bradley was forced to concede - meaning Europe had indeed won with four matches to spare.
In the first of those four remaining contests, Poulter won the final hole to finish all-square with Webb Simpson - and, while it was hardly vintage Poulter this weekend, his enduring spirit saw him through two halved matches and one defeat.
Elsewhere, Spaniard Garcia went five-under for his last five holes to reprise his comeback win over Furyk of two years ago before American rookie Walker defeated Lee Westwood 3&2.
The final point was halved between Victor Dubuisson and Zach Johnson as the French debutant ensured he remained unbeaten from his first three Ryder Cup contests.
Match over, the champagne corks could officially be popped with Dubuisson confirming his approval of the bubbly.
Meanwhile, a beaming Europe skipper Paul McGinley addressed the packed Gleneagles galleries.
"I'm very proud of every one of these players," the Irishman said. "I couldn't have asked for an ounce more from them."
To cries from the crowd of "Only one Tom Watson", the legendary - but defeated - American captain was as gracious as ever.
However, even his past greatness was nowhere near enough to stem the present European dominance.
Unbeaten at home since 1993, and unbeaten altogether since the 2008 defeat in Valhalla, today's result confirmed that this - undoubtedly - is a European blue era in Ryder Cup golf.
EARLIER RESULTS
Fourballs (Friday)
| Europe | 1½-2½ | United States |
| Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson | won 5&4 | Webb Simpson/Bubba Watson |
| Thomas Bjorn/Martin Kaymer | halved | Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker |
| Stephen Gallacher/Ian Poulter | won 5&4 | Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed |
| Rory McIlroy/Sergio Garcia | won 1up | Phil Mickelson/Keegan Bradley |
Foursomes (Friday)
| Europe | 3½-½ | United States |
| Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood | won 2up | Jim Furyk/Matt Kuchar |
| Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson | won 2&1 | Hunter Mahan/Zach Johnson |
| Rory McIlroy/Sergio Garcia | halved | Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker |
| Victor Dubuisson/Graeme McDowell | won 3&2 | Phil Mickelson/Keegan Bradley |
Fourballs (Saturday)
| Europe | 1½-2½ | United States |
| Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson | won 3&2 | Bubba Watson/Matt Kuchar |
| Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood | won 4&3 | Jim Furyk/Hunter Mahan |
| Thomas Bjorn/Martin Kaymer | won 5&3 | Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed |
| Rory McIlroy/Ian Poulter | halved | Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker |
Foursomes (Saturday)
| Europe | 3½-½ | United States |
| Jamie Donaldson/Lee Westwood | won 2&1 | Zach Johnson/Matt Kuchar |
| Rory McIlroy/Sergio Garcia | won 3&2 | Jim Furyk/Hunter Mahan |
| Martin Kaymer/Justin Rose | halved | Jordan Spieth/Patrick Reed |
| Victor Dubuisson/Graeme McDowell | won 3&2 | Rickie Fowler/Jimmy Walker |
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