Europe arrived on American shores as defending champions after winning the cup back at The Belfry in 2002

America assembled one of the strongest sides of recent times, outgunning Europe in terms of majors and world rankings

US captain Hal Sutton (left) and European counterpart Bernhard Langer were all smiles before the event

Colin Montgomerie hit the first shot of the 35th Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills to launch the biennial battle

But America's plan of sending out its big guns first backfired as Montgomerie/Harrington beat Mickelson/Woods 2&1

Lee Westwood (left) and Darren Clarke also downed the Woods/Mickelson dream tream in Friday's foursomes

Europe led 6½-1½ after day one and Sutton was shellshocked when it dawned USA could lose the cup on day two

Tiger Woods was more relaxed with new partner Chris Riley and the pair sparked a USA fightback on Saturday morning

But Paul Casey and David Howell come back from a hole down with two to play to stem the rising American tide

Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley rounded off day two with a 4&3 win over Woods/Love - for Woods' third defeat

Europe won three out of four afternoon matches to lead 11-5 going into the singles, needing three points to retain the cup

Rookie Paul Casey volunteered to lead off against Woods but Europe were down in the first five matches early on

Sergio Garcia ignited the holders with 3&2 victory over Mickelson before Clarke halved and Westwood won

And with the cup retained, it was left to Europe's talisman Montgomerie to hole the winning putt

Europe won by a record 18½-9½. "We beat one of the strongest US teams in Ryder Cup history on their home soil. This is just unbelievable," said Langer