Europe's Ryder Cup captain is well-known for enjoying a pint or three. And just four points away from setting off a joyous round of Irish revelry, no one would blame him for briefly letting his mind flash forward.

As far as the Welshman is concerned, there's one more ghost to be locked in the closet before any tippling can commence. And over on the other side of The K Club, it was the faint glimmer of hope left for the U.S. team.

Seven years ago, the Americans staged the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history, storming the singles to overcome the same 10-6 deficit they carried into this morning's finale.

The Europeans won both sets of matches again Saturday, marking the squad's first sweep of all four doubles sessions. Remarkably, the score each time was the same -- 2 ½ to 1 ½.

U.S. golfers have won only three matches outright, two by their No. 1 tandem of Tiger Woods and Furyk. Six halves comprise the rest of their score -- valuable, but certainly not momentum swingers.

Darren Clarke chipped in to seal a victory over the Woods/Furyk duo. Sergio García nearly did the same to end his morning match. Colin Montgomerie drained a 16-foot putt at No. 18 to steal a halve in the afternoon foursomes.

Already 5-up with five to play with David Howell in their match against Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson, Casey lasered a 4-iron through the cool air at the par-3 14th.

So stunned was the Englishman, in fact, that he forgot both club and ball as he left the tee box. Caddie Craig Connelly hustled back to retrieve both before they wound up on eBay.

The last Ryder Cup hole-in-one came 11 years ago, when Europe's Howard Clark turned the trick at Oak Hill. Not until Saturday had a match ever been won with an ace.

Nearly lost in all the hubbub was García's continued success. The Spaniard swept both of his matches again, running his unbeaten streak to nine games. Not once has he trailed over 66 holes.

Before the Europeans knew what hit them, they were down in each of the first half-dozen matches and chants of ''U-S-A!'' echoed from one end of The Country Club to the other. The Americans prevailed, 14 ½ to 13 ½.

This time, Lehman can only orchestrate from the sideline. Like Ben Crenshaw before him, he goes with a heavily front-loaded lineup. Woods holds down the cleanup spot, in hopes of setting up momentum for the middle.

Montgomerie, though, countered by noting that at Brookline, captain Mark James hid three rookies until the singles. This time, the Europeans go 12 deep.

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