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Ryder Cup: What they said

Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter celebrate victory © PA Photos

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Graeme McDowell, who secured the crucial victory when he beat Hunter Mahan, said: "For the fans to get out here every morning… I love them a lot. We needed them big time. [European skipper] Colin Montgomerie was amazing for the last two years, he's been right up for this. There's nothing quite like Montgomerie so to do it for him today was quite special."

A tearful Mahan said:"I've played with Graeme before. He played great today, didn't miss a shot. He hit a bunch of key putts. That birdie on 16, after I got it to one down, was huge. He just beat me today."

Stewart Cink threw his support behind Mahan: "If you go up and down the line of the Tour players in the Europe and US and asked them if they would like to be the last guy to decide the Ryder Cup, probably less than half would say they would like to be that guy and probably less than 10% would mean it. Hunter Mahan put himself in that position today. He was a man on our team, to put himself in that position. Hunter Mahan performed like a champ out there today, all right, and I think it's awesome."

American captain Corey Pavin, speaking after a conversation with Colin Montgomerie, said: "We just respect each other for what the Ryder Cup is. I congratulated him on a job well done and he said our guys fought hard and congratulated me as well. I'm incredibly proud - I just talked to [the US player]s inside, I was just very proud of how they did and how they fought all week."

On his tactics, he added: "We went out strong with experience, I wanted experience up front and in the back and it nearly worked out. Rickie Fowler was amazing, the putt on 18 was incredible [it gave him a half against Edoardo Molinari], it gave us a lot of hope and from a 21-year-old it was amazing. He came through, he's that kind of kid, and I think we'll see him a lot at Ryder Cups in the future."

On his calm demeanour, he said: "I wanted to be a calming effect on the team and what happened in the team room was a little different. We just had a very emotional talk, it took me a while to get back out for the media. I have no regrets at all, I liked all the pairings and the preparation so I'm quite content with everything except maybe the result."

European star Ian Poulter: "This is a special day for European golf, to put on a display with this many fans is truly unbelievable. Seve [Ballesteros] is at home watching this, he can't be with us, but every player has watched what he is to European golf and this means everything to him.

"[This is] for Monty, for all the assistant captains, they have been different class. To put [McDowell] out last, there was some discussion about that, but there's a reason he was there and he pulled it off."

Rory McIlroy: "It was huge to win this, to do it for Seve and European golf, it's been the best week of my life. In two years time I do not want to be watching this on TV."

European vice-captain Darren Clarke: "Similar scenes to Brookline where they came back really well. But thankfully we had the strength in depth in this team. I think you're going to see huge battles between Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy in future.

"Rory is hugely talented. He's young and he's got to learn, and this has been another great learning experience for him. The way he gathered himself on 18 will stand him in good stead. He knows the Ryder Cup is no exhibition match, he knows the rules now."

Phil Mickelson: "When I didn't win any of my first three points, I felt more disappointment than I've ever felt, because this is an opportunity for us to win here in Europe. And so the fact that we came so close, and I let some of these opportunities to gain points for our team slide, it does hurt more than some of our past losses."

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