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Sept. 26 (UPI) -- World No. 3 Collin Morikawa tied No. 14 Viktor Hovland of Norway in the fifth of a dozen singles golf matches to clinch the Ryder Cup title for the Americans on Sunday at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Sheboygan, Wis. The Americans won 19-9, posting the most points at the tournament since 1979.
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"It means so much," Morikawa told NBC. "It was a great match against Viktor. To clinch this and bring the Cup back to home soil feels so good.
"We knew we had a strong team and a lot of guys in the top 10, but that means nothing until you take the first tee shot."
Fans stood along the fairway and showered the 24-year-old Morikawa with "U-S-A" cheers when he picked his ball up off the 18th green.
Morikawa and Hovland won seven holes apiece and tied the other four to each earn a half-point in the match. The half-point gave the Americans the 14.5 points needed to secure the Cup.
Morikawa, the 2021 British Open champion, carded six birdies in the final round.
The Ryder Cup victory is just the third in two decades for the Americans at the biennial tournament, which consists of a dozen players from Europe against a dozen from the United States.
The 43rd Ryder Cup featured four-ball, foursome and singles play on the par-71 course.
No. 2 Dustin Johnson led the Americans in wins. He became just the fifth player in history to post a 5-0 record at the Ryder Cup.
The Americans jumped out to a 6-2 lead through the first day of competition Friday on the Straits Course. They extended the advantage to 11-5 Saturday, 3.5 points shy of the 14.5 needed to win the tournament.
No. 15 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland edged No. 5 Xander Schauffele in Sunday's first match. The 3 and 2 win for Team Europe closed the deficit to five points.
No. 4 Patrick Cantlay and No. 42 Shane Lowry of Ireland teed off second. No. 21 Scottie Scheffler and No. 1 Jon Rahm of Spain teed off third.
Scheffler knocked off Rahm 4 and 3 for the Americans' 12th point. Cantlay beat Lowry 4 and 2 to get Team USA to within 1.5 points of a victory.
"I woke up this morning and telling the guys, let's get to 20 points," Cantlay said. "This is going to be the next era of Ryder Cup teams for the U.S. I wanted to send a message."
No. 7 Bryson DeChambeau beat No. 43 Sergio Garcia of Spain in the next singles match. The Americans clinched the title at the end of Morikawa's round, but needed to complete additional matches to make the score final.
Johnson, No. 6 Justin Thomas, No. 10 Brooks Koepka and No. 16 Daniel Berger went on to claim additional singles wins for the Americans. No. 13 Jordan Spieth tied No. 37 Tommy Fleetwood of England in Match 11.
"They had a mission this week," U.S. captain Steve Stricker said. "They played great, came together. This is a new era for USA golf. They are young, come with a lot of passion, a lot of energy and a lot of game. They are so good."
