The Americans, their pride hurt by a drubbing on the first two days, established leads in the first five games and six of the first seven.

But Bernhard Langer’s side, full of character as well as characters, were not to be denied and have now, quite incredibly, won four of the last five clashes.

There were heroes all the way through the team, but pride of place had to be given to Colin Montgomerie – the old war horse picked by Langer to do a job. And how wonderfully he did it.

Lee Westwood was actually the player who guaranteed the famous gold trophy was going back to London tomorrow, beating Kenny Perry with a six-foot putt on the 18th.

But then, just eight minutes later, along came Montgomerie to produce exactly what he did at Valderrama in 1997 – the performance which gave Europe victory in the match.

After sitting out a session on the second day the 41-year-old Scot, in the most traumatic year of his life, returned to action with everything in the balance again.

But he birdied the first to put the first European blue on the leaderboard and 17 holes later made a four-footer to leave the Americans licking their wounds again.

“It’s been a fantastic week,” said Montgomerie. “Bernhard Langer has been a wonderful captain, but he had great troops playing for him.

“We had strength at the top, in the middle and at the bottom. We were so close-knit – one of the closest in international sport.

“It’s amazing how we play for each other. I’m not saying the Americans don’t, but we acted as one from the moment we get on the plane to fly over here.”

Langer, as meticulous as a captain as he is as a player, added: “It’s been a tremendous week. We’ve had so much fun and I’m so proud of the guys, especially today.

First Tiger Woods beat Paul Casey three and two.

Woods was all over the show off the tee on the front nine, but ended it two-up.

Casey, out in a nervy three-over 38 and behind from the moment he three-putted the first, could do nothing, however, about the world number two’s fabulous 30-foot eagle at the long 12th and was shaking hands four holes later.

In the second game, Phil Mickelson was two up after eight on Sergio Garcia, but the 24-year-old Spaniard turned things round completely and, when he won three and two, after the Masters champion had dumped his approach to the 16th in water Garcia had finished the week with 4 1/2 points out a possible five.

Darren Clarke was two down with three to go against Davis Love, birdied the 16th and then chipped in dramatically from thick rough on the short 17th for another.

He had a four-foot chance to win on the last after Love had missed from slightly longer, but they lipped out and so they halved.

The Ulsterman has yet to win a singles in four matches, but his contribution was almost as big as Garcia’s.

Westwood did match Garcia’s tally and, when he beat Perry, the celebrations began.

Luke Donald had lost to Chad Campbell by then, but six games were still on the course and, with the European tail wagging magnificently, there was still the chance to make it a record-breaking victory.

When Ian Poulter and then Thomas Levet triumphed all 12 Europeans had produced at least one point to the team cause.

The record European points total was assured when Paul McGinley, the match-winning hero from two years ago, moved three-up with three to play on Stewart Cink in the bottom game.

Harrington then completed the rout with a stunning putt on the 18th to beat Haas 1up.

American captain Hal Sutton commented: “We never got the charisma going. We caught glimpses of it, but no more and the truth is the Europeans out-played us.

“I made mistakes and I take responsibility for them. The pairings I set didn’t create any charisma (Mickelson-Woods most notably). But I’m going to live with what I did, move on and hug my kids tomorrow.

“This is such a spectacular event and there is a lot of pressure on these guys. The ones who handle the pressure and get the ball in the hole come out winners, but in golf you learn to lose a lot.”

Final Score: Europe 18.5 USA 9.5.