Darren Clarke became the fourth victim of a spectacular top-of-the-pack collapse by Europe to hand a contest-equalling win to Hal Sutton.
Clarke never recovered from an early deficit and Sutton played some awe-inspiring golf to ram home the advantage in front of galleries packed with ecstatic spectators.
Sutton was greeted with huge cheers on the tee and when Clarke hit a poor second shot wide of the first green it looked like the home advantage could have an instant impact.
But the Ulsterman silenced the crowd by chipping in from the heavy rough - and then showed the extent of his motivation by repeatedly punching the air.
Sutton continued his form of the first two days, though, by levelling the match on the very next hole with a fine putt for a birdie two.
And when Clarke missed a six-foot putt for par at the third he was suddenly behind.
Sutton was playing superbly and a fantastic pitch to within a few inches of the pin at the sixth gave him a huge three-hole lead.
The American then narrowly missed a long putt on the ninth, saving Clarke from a four-hole deficit.
The Ulsterman scrapped to stay in the match and held out, halving each - until the 16th when he finally conceded a putt and the hole to Sutton, allowing the Americans to draw level with Europe.
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