Garcia bawled as he watched the unfathomable happen to Europe on Sunday at the Ryder Cup. His team blew the biggest final-day lead in the event's history, losing eight matches and halving another to lose Samuel Ryder's chalice for the first time since 1993.

	Sergio Garcia was at a loss for words as the Europeans collapsed.

Jesper Parnevik was routed, as were Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood. The three European rookies who hadn't played on the first two days -- Jarmo Sandelin, Jean Van de Velde and Andrew Coltart -- couldn't get past the 16th hole in losses. Garcia's countryman and mentor, Jose Maria Olazabal, blew a 4-up lead with seven holes to play, capped by Justin Leonard's 45-footer on the 17th green that put the U.S. over the top.

And it was there that the European blood began to boil.

The Americans poured onto the 17th green to celebrate with Leonard. Players, led by Tom Lehman, caddies, team officials, wives and girlfriends all ran to greet Leonard at the base of the green. They celebrated for more than 15 seconds, until Leonard himself started to lead them away from the green as the crowd of nearly 40,000 -- many 15-deep around the hole -- erupted.

One problem: Olazabal had a putt of his own to halve the hole and keep Europe in the match.

He missed.

Europe seethed.

"I understand in every way what was happening," Olazabal said. "It's not the kind of behavior one expects, especially when you're playing a match and you know that the whole match is going to go down in your match, or the one just behind me. I think it was very sad to see. It as an ugly picture to see."

Nobody on the European side backed away.

"I agree with everything Jose said," said European captain Mark James. "And I would like to think it wouldn't happen with my players."

U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw later apologized for his team. "There really wasn't any call for that," he said. "The celebration started spilling over and it really was not something that we need to be proud of."

The Europeans weren't thrilled with some in the gallery all week. On any number of occasions, European players stepped away from putts or backed off drives. On Sunday, a bus kept revving its engine while the players were standing over a putt.

And the crowds, massive all week, brought an element of American football to The Country Club. On Sunday, Payne Stewart, paired with Colin Montgomerie, the No. 1 target of the hecklers, apologized profusely, saying he talked to Montgomerie throughout the round and offered his help in calming the crowd.

"I, too, was disgusted with some of the actions and some of the namecalling and the heckling that goes with Colin," said Stewart, who conceded a putt on the final hole and the match to Montgomerie on Sunday. "He doesn't deserve that. That's not what this event's about. I don't know if he's got a big bull's-eye on his back or what it is, but it's not fair."

"It should not ever happen," said Jesper Parnevik, the only member of the European team to play on the PGA Tour on a regular basis. "I live over here and I had a lot of friends in the crowds today and they were embarrassed just to hear some of the heckling that happened to Monty, for example.

"And I know you all laugh when he says he uses it as a motivation factor, but it just shouldn't happen. I can understand the Americans rooting for the Americans, but it should never get personal -- not in golf, anyway."

The Americans agreed, but with one caveat: remember Valderrama.

"Valderrama wasn't exactly a cakewalk for us," said Lehman, who was criticized by the Europeans for his role on the 17th hole. "Their fans were pretty interesting, too."

None of the Europeans were willing to say that the American celebration on 17 had anything to do with the outcome. Most pointed to the Americans, saying they got beat by a deeper, better team -- at least in singles.

"I think we were outplayed," said James. "I don't think we were outmaneuvered."

Besides, as Montgomerie said: "Jose still had a very difficult putt to make. Justin's putt was a fantastic effort."

A fantastic effort that put even more juice into what is already a juicy event.

"We congratulate the American team," said Olazabal. "Next time, I think it will be a benefit to the game of golf if we manage to behave just a little better. Every one of us. Thank you very much."