Europe Defeats USA For Third Straight Ryder Cup Victory

The Americans just can't seem to find a way to win.

Europe continued its Ryder Cup dominance this weekend when Rory McIlroy and Co. defeated the United States for the third straight year on Sunday.

With a score of 16 1/2-11 1/2, Europe came away with its eighth win in 10 years at the Gleneagles Hotel in Gleneagles, Scotland. It was a more comfortable margin of victory for the Europeans than 2012's 14 1/2-13 1/2 come-from-behind thriller.

On the 15th hole of his matchup with American Keegan Bradley, Europe's Jamie Donaldson hit a 9-iron that landed within 3 feet of the cup. Bradley tipped his cap and conceded a birdie to Donaldson to seal the win for Europe.

"The shot of my life," Donaldson said, according to the Associated Press.

Europe went into Sunday's singles matchups up 10-6 and never looked back. McIlroy started off the day for Europe with the team's first point, leading up to Donaldson's clincher.

"It came down to me to close it out, but it's all about the team," Donaldson said. "Everyone played their heart out to retain the Ryder Cup. And that's what it's all about."

Asked by reporters how it felt to notch the win for his team in his first Ryder Cup, Donaldson was a bit speechless.  

"You can't really put words to it, I suppose," Donaldson told The New York Times. "Obviously, I knew it was all getting tight there at the end."

The United States players, meanwhile, gave much-deserved credit to their competitors.

"The U.S. players responded early, but they just couldn't keep it going," U.S. captain Tom Watson told USA Today. "But the credit goes to Europe. They are stacked with great players. But we came here thinking we could win, knowing it would be a great challenge, but we fell short. The other team performed better than we did."