“I’m glad the Ryder Cup is not a table tennis competition, we got our a*** kicked,” joked McGinley, who confirmed he would not captain the side again or be a vice-captain in the future.

Since Bernard Gallacher led the team for the third time in 1995, each captain has been appointed for just one contest.

McGinley said he again followed his wife’s advice from 2002 – when he holed the winning putt at The Belfry – to not drink too much in order to fully enjoy the celebrations of an eighth European win in the last 10 contests.

And he revealed he had received a long message of congratulations from former world number one Luke Donald, who lost out to Lee Westwood for the final wild card pick this year.

“I just happened to have my phone in my hand, I was transferring it from one pocket to another, and saw the message from Luke,” said McGinley, whose attention to detail stretched to having a fish tank in the team room with the fish in European colours of blue and yellow.

“It was very respectful to me and the team and very regretful he was not part of it. He knew what kind of captain I was going to be and he was very disappointed not to be there.”

McGinley admitted his one regret was not having enough time to coach Ian Poulter in the role of senior player for his partnership with Stephen Gallacher, the untried duo losing 5&4 on the opening morning.

But the Irishman added: “I don’t think I could have written for things to have gone as well as they did. I feel very lucky to have 12 players to carry out the plan as well as they did.

“That’s six Ryder Cups I have been involved in (three as a player, two as vice-captain and one as captain) and six wins. Like a heavyweight fighter, I will retire undefeated.”

McGinley said he was seriously considering playing in this week’s Dunhill Links Championship, but added: “God knows where my golf game is.”