Hero of the day

Graeme McDowell: McDowell, Sunday's leadoff man in singles for Europe, had circled the day on his calendar for another reason: It was his wedding anniversary.

McDowell was married a year ago to Kristen Stape. She missed the Ryder Cup because she gave birth to a girl, Vale, last month. "She wanted a point today," McDowell said after his 2-and-1 win over Jordan Spieth, in which he overcame a three-hole deficit on the back nine. "I'm standing there watching Jordan with an 8-foot putt on No. 7 to go 4 up thinking I would be letting my wife down."

Goat of the day

Hunter Mahan: He happened to be the unlucky American on the course when Justin Rose, Europe's top scorer, trailed 4-down after six holes. Rose kept chipping away, culminating his comeback by getting up and down for birdie on 18 to pull out a half-point for Europe.

Captain's log

Meticulous. Modern.

Inspirational.

While U.S, captain Tom Watson was being second-guessed for making mostly autonomous decisions about strategy and pairings, Spain's Sergio Garcia dubbed meticulous European captain Paul McGinley "the new wave of captains. A lot more modern. Every detail, it was right there. He thought of everything this week. It was amazing."

Inside the ropes

Rookie Patrick Reed finished Sunday as the top U.S. point scorer with three, but European fans weren't going to let Reed forget a 2-foot putt he missed on No. 16 during afternoon foursomes on Saturday. But Sunday, Reed bit back. After making birdie on No. 7, a fired-up Reed placed his finger to his lips and gave the spectators the hush sign. He shouted "Come on, Come on" and whirred his arms. "I got the crowd fired up on both sides and it was a lot of fun, the crowd loved it," he said. "They were heckling me all day, yet we were being respectful."

Quote of the day

"When the storm comes, we'll be the rock." — Justin Rose, recalling one of McGinley's many motivational catch phrases.