It had begun to go quiet around lunchtime and, come the middle of the afternoon, all you could hear was the sound of American putts dropping. After all was said and done, there was a lot more to this team than fancy make-up. The United States’ successful defence of the Solheim Cup had become a starry, stripey processional long before the the trophy was returned to their possession.

The United States won 16-12 and, in truth, it was only some gutsy European play, knocking the ball stiff and holding nervelessly late on in each of the four sessions of foursomes and four-balls, that had kept the holders within striking distance. When Europe squeaked a one-point overall lead from the four-balls that were delayed until yesterday morning because of Saturday’s stormy conditions, the foremost American authority on women’s golf commented: “It’s a ball game now.” Rather, it became a stroll in the ballpark.

Perhaps Europe’s woes were best summed up when Becky Brewerton, the Welsh rookie and one of the few bits of blue on the scoreboard, saw her hoiked approach to the 18th come to rest at the base of a silver birch tree. Brewerton, one up against Sherri Steinhauer, could have taken relief under the rule governing line of sight, but chose not to summon the match referee and instead managed only to prod a left-handed shot a few feet and chip on, losing the hole to a routine par. A probable win thus became a half as so many European halves became emphatic losses.

The Swedes — and Norwegians, Danes, Germans, French, Welsh, Scots and English — had come out in wet-suited droves in support of a sport that has taken a hold over this country as tennis used to. Furthermore, a third of all golfers in Sweden are female.

Their despair at the result was intensified by the fact that the home girls did not really fire yesterday and Annika Sorenstam, who might as well have been a one-woman team for her dominance of local print coverage, fizzled out.

Consider her downbeat body language to that of Morgan Pressel, the 19-year-old American rookie, who defeated Sweden’s pin-up player two and one and was a bundle of confidence throughout. Nobody exemplified United States’ spirit more than Stacy Prammanasudh, from Oklahoma, who halved both four-ball matches and snuffed out the hopes of Sophie Gustafson with sublime golf, winning by two holes, with a five-under-par 67 that included twos on three of the four par-threes.

The Americans had lost all ten matches that reached the 18th green on the first two days, but only three singles were extended to clubhouse proximity yesterday. Brewerton’s implosion against Steinhauer and Prammanasudh’s win over Gustafson went the distance and, in the last match to finish, Cristie Kerr, of the US, conceded a 3ft putt to Linda Wessberg, but she most likely would not have done had the cup been hanging on it.

You had to feel a pang of sympathy for Catriona Matthew, of Scotland, who clearly revels in Swedish conditions. She won the Scandinavian TPC last month and it was her singles point at Barsebäck four years ago that sealed Europe’s success. She led the way yesterday with a 3 and 2 victory over Laura Diaz.

Laura Davies smiled as she tossed her ball into the crowd after a 4 and 3 win over Brittany Lincicome. The 43-year-old from Coventry said that she wants to keep playing in this event and, on this performance, who could possibly leave her out?

The selections of Helen Alfredsson, the Europe captain, have been criticised, but when has any captain had a free ride? Of her picks, only Wessberg won a singles match and that was thanks to Kerr’s concession. Her opposite number, Betsy King, on the other hand, delighted in her pig-tailed pretties as Pressel, Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer thrived in the championship’s camaraderie. Red and blonde were the event’s special colours.