Team Europe golfer Rory McIlroy (L) and vice-captain Jose Maria Olazabal celebrate after retaining the Ryder Cup for Europe, during the 40th Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland September 28, 2014. Captain Paul McGinley described each of his players as &qu
Team Europe golfer Rory McIlroy (L) and vice-captain Jose Maria Olazabal celebrate after retaining the Ryder Cup for Europe, during the 40th Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland September 28, 2014. Captain Paul McGinley described each of his players as "a colossus" after holders Europe won the Ryder Cup for the eighth time in 10 editions on Sunday REUTERS

Rory McIlroy set the tone early on, a rookie cemented the win of the European team. This year's edition of the Ryder Cup promised no surprises in leading up to finals days as the Europeans were slightly challenged in capturing its 8th win in the last ten editions of the tournament. Europe clinched the cup with still four matches still left in tow, with the final tally of 16 ½ to 11 ½.

According to the New York Times, McIlroy paved the way in the final day by one-upping Rickie Fowler to put up the first point on the board. The team needed to put up 4 points out of the 12 remaining matches to book the victory.

His teammates followed suit capped by a the winning shot of rookie Jamie Donaldson by using a 9-iron to place the ball 18 inches from the 15th hole. His opponent, Keegan Bradley conceded the birdie that jumpstarted the celebrations. Even with the clincher, Donaldson attributed the victory to the team.

"It came down to me to close it out," Donaldson said. "But it's all about the team."

This is in stark contrast to the Americans who fielded heavy minutes for some of its players that showed during the final stages of the tournament. American team captain Tom Watson preferred youth over experience in the singles much to the chagrin of some of the elder statesmen. He placed 21-year-old Spieth in first position and another neophyte, 24-year-old Patrick Reed in second. Spieth showed some fight as he was leading early on over Northern Irishman McDowell, but a comeback just devastated all hope for the Americans who were raring to snatch an unprecedented come from behind win in the opponent's home turf.

"The bottom line is they kicked our butts," Watson said. "They were better players this week."

Watson is no stranger to come from behind wins as he was a personal witness to that infamous unraveling of the United States two years ago at Medinah where they lost a 10-6 lead. They were hoping to put on the reverse on their European counterparts, but McIlroy and company were just too much to handle. At age 65, Watson became the oldest team captain in Ryder Cup history and he was also the last leader to win on European soil, but that would not be the case this year at Gleneagles, Scotland.