But what really mattered to the Scot, who has never lost a Ryder Cup singles, was that his Britain and Ireland side, with David Howell and wild card pick Paul Casey the stars of the show along with Swede Henrik Stenson, ran out comfortable 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 winners.

And that after losing the opening fourballs 4-1.

Six of last year’s Ryder Cup side were in Montgomerie’s line-up while Olazabal had only two and the home team were able to cope much better without Luke Donald, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood than the Continentals were without Sergio Garcia and Bernhard Langer.

“The team did really well to come back as they did – and did better than I thought they would after that start,” said Montgomerie. “Three wins in a row is great.”

As for his own game he added: “It was a bit flat really. I’m not saying I was a bit stale, but I found myself more concerned with the scoreboard and there seemed to be less riding on it than 21 years ago.”

Montgomerie and Olazabal last went head-to-head in match play in the final of the 1984 British amateur championship at Formby.

Olazabal, only 18 then, won that four and two to earn a trip to the Masters. This time it was two and one, with Montgomerie not able to win a single hole after the seventh and losing when the Spaniard hit the flagstick with his tee shot to the 181-yard 17th.

They were the top game, but by then Britain and Ireland already had two more points on the board and so led by three.

Howell was a spectacular seven under par in thrashing Thomas Bjorn six and five, the biggest singles victory recorded since the competition began in 2000.

“I didn’t realise the numbers were quite that good,” said the Swindon golfer, who kicked off with an eagle and added five birdies. “To beat Thomas is a great win for me and I’m delighted.”

Casey, who had already partnered Howell to three wins out of four on top of their Ryder Cup triumph together a year ago, quickly followed with a four and three victory over Niclas Fasth.

He may have lost his World Cup place to Howell with a fall down the world rankings, but after a horrible run of missed cuts and high scores in mid-season Casey is well and truly back on song.

Ulsterman Graeme McDowell then beat Maarten Lafeber five and four, being five under and also underlining a talent which many think will bring a Ryder Cup debut next September – in Ireland, of course.

Ian Poulter, who had an eventful week to say the least, made it 13-10 by halving with Swede Peter Hanson.

On Thursday Poulter was criticised by Montgomerie for practising as play went on. On Friday he apologised. On Saturday he showed his displeasure at being asked to hole a short putt by Fasth and Henrik Stenson and refused to concede anything afterwards.

And moments after shaking hands with Hanson today he was handed a letter from Ballesteros.

But he was not alone in that – every player got one and it was presumably the tournament host’s explanation that he did not mean to be as critical of them as some reports had made out.

That definitely took some explaining. It is a matter of record that he commented over the weekend: “I don’t see any players who really today impress me from either side of the Atlantic to be honest. The last was Tiger Woods a couple of years ago.”

A number of players were enraged when they read the remarks, with Bjorn commenting before the start: “There are 10 great matches with 20 great players - even if Seve does not think so.”

There were even rumours that some might not play in the inaugural Europe v Asia match under Ballesteros’ captaincy in January.

Poulter insisted he had not seen the comments and instead reflected on “a good week. I think everybody enjoyed it.

“Some pairings have done well it should give Woosie (Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam) some help come September.”

Montgomerie and Olazabal are almost certainly future captains against the Americans and on the seven-time European number one Poulter added: “He is a good captain and I am sure he will do a great job when his turn comes around.”

The only two players who had not won on the first three days were Welsh pair Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge and, perhaps fittingly, they found success in the singles.

Dodd beat Jean-Francois Remesy two and one and Dredge’s victory over Thomas Levet by the same margin ensured the trophy does not cross the channel.

It was a massive relief for him 48 hours after incurring a penalty for carrying an extra club in his bag.

Paul McGinley added another point, but after Padraig Harrington had lost to Emanuele Canonica 23-year-old Nick Dougherty agreed a half on the last with Stenson, who like Howell and Casey finished with four points out of five. In his case three wins and two halves.