Tiger Woods? Who needs him? Certainly not the United States team, who brought Europe’s run of three Ryder Cup victories on the trot to a shuddering halt at Valhalla last night. It had been argued that the Americans might do better in the absence of the injured world No 1, and so it proved.

Playing like a team with plenty to prove, the US put the finishing touches to a campaign that began when Europe handed them the initiative on the first morning and ended when Miguel Ángel Jiménez conceded a putt on the 17th hole to Jim Furyk that sealed victory for the United States by an eventual 16½-11½ score.

But while the American players were celebrating their first win since Brookline, in 1999, Lee Westwood was bemoaning the behaviour of the fans. “I’ve been abused all week and I don’t think that’s golf,” he said. “Some of the stuff that has been said to me has been shameful.” So soon after a such a convincing defeat, however, the Englishman risks being accused of sour grapes, even if Paul Azinger, the US captain, had got his oft-stated wish for the crowds to become more engaged with his players.

Westwood had been dropped against his wishes from the Saturday morning foursomes and was put out in the eleventh group in the singles, from where he had little influence on proceedings. He had been unhappy with the antics of Boo Weekley in whipping up the crowds earlier in the week and was in poor spirits after his 2 and 1 defeat by Ben Curtis yesterday.

How the 2008 Ryder Cup was won

Follow the final day's play from Valhalla as the 37th Ryder Cup draws to a dramatic conclusion with today's singles matches

• Mission accomplished for United States

• Justin Rose's Ryder Cup diary: I'm heartbroken

• Analysis: misfiring big three cost Europe dear in Ryder Cup

Europe surrender under brilliant assault

The US reclaimed the Ryder Cup for first time since 1999 with a sustained performance in the singles matches at Valhalla

• Elementary approach pays off for J.B. Holmes

• Nick Faldo's bold approach backfires in failure to reclaim initiative from US

• Ryder Cup warning signs to watch out for

Multimedia

• The key moments, match by match

• Is Faldo to blame for Europe's defeat?

Related Links

• Justin Rose's Ryder Cup diary: I'm heartbroken

• How the 2008 Ryder Cup was won

• Analysis: misfiring big three cost Europe dear

Now, though, the focus of attention will centre on Nick Faldo and his captaincy of the Europe team. They had arrived as favourites but never got going. Asked if he would have changed the way he did things, Faldo was adamant that he had done right by the team.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “One of my goals was to leave knowing that I did my best for the team. I’m more than comfortable with how everything has panned out.” And would he consider the captaincy again? “Who knows,” he said. “A few things along the way were quite tricky, but I doubt it. I believe it was a one-stop shot.”

Azinger, meanwhile, was quick not to dismiss Woods too quickly. “Tiger was great,” he said. “He kept text messaging me. I love Tiger Woods, missed him.” Europe’s demise began with the first match of the day, a 5 and 4 thrashing handed out by Anthony Kim to Sergio GarcÍa. That defeat would have sent shock waves through the Europe team. It was questionable if Faldo had made the right decision in sending the Spaniard out first, considering he had been off form and putting poorly, but at such times the great players are expected to pull through.

With the first point in the bag, it meant that the United States – who led 9-7 at the start of the day – needed only 4½ more points to win the trophy and end Europe’s six-year reign. There were stirring performances from Paul Casey, Robert Karlsson, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, but they were never going to be enough. Europe, quite simply, had been outplayed.

At one point, there were enough blue numbers on the board to suggest that Europe might just sneak home. But those numbers were at the wrong end of the draw. Faldo’s intuition in putting out his best players last had let him down and there was little that his team could do about the American charge.