The United States staged the biggest comeback in Ryder Cup history Sunday afternoon, then hosted the biggest spontaneous party in the 117 years of The Country Club, which is used to affairs a tad more blue-blooded.

	U.S. Ryder Cup players, from left, Tiger Woods, Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson whoop it up.

With hoards crushed together at the base of the colonial-style clubhouse, the victorious Americans climbed through a window and onto the clubhouse balcony. There, they threw balls and gloves to the crowd, in between dousing themselves with champagne. Tom Lehman --Lehman? -- threw his shirt to the crowd. David Duval -- Duval? -- tossed his sunglasses.

They sang the national anthem, with Duval -- Duval again? -- leading the chorus like Zubin Mehta and waving a tiny U.S. flag. They taunted the Europeans with "Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye." They hailed Justin Leonard, who's 45-foot putt on the 17th hole clinched the 14½-13½ victory for the Americans.

And they chanted the obligatory "U-S-A, U-S-A" over and over again as captain Ben Crenshaw blew kisses to the crowd.

The Americans own the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1993, when they won at The Belfrey in England. And the celebrated with champagne, cigars and the kind of emotion that few associate with the normally reticent American golfers at the end of the century.

And nobody uttered the words "exhibition." All knew they'd been in competition.

"This is awesome," said Tiger Woods, playing in his first team competition on U.S. soil. "I can't believe it, but we did it. We did it."

The Americans came back with a remarkable Sunday effort. The United States is traditionally strong in singles -- in the last 20 competitions, the United States has won eight or more singles matches on the final day nine times. But few gave the Americans a chance at earning a minimum of 8½ points they needed to win this year.

So Crenshaw played the percentages. He stacked his lineup early, with Lehman, Hal Sutton, Phil Mickelson and Davis Love III going off in the first four pairings. They did it with some surprises -- a struggling Justin Leonard coming back from four holes down with seven to play to halve with Jose Maria Olazabal; Duval regaining his form to rout Jesper Parnevik; Steve Pate derailing a hot Miguel Angel Jimenez; and Jim Furyk routing Sergio Garcia.

"I believed in these guys," said Crenshaw. "And they believed in each other."

And he played the fate card. Crenshaw had been a not-so-gentle Ben on Saturday night, wagging his finger at the media and saying he had a feeling that Sunday would be good to the Americans.

Cue Rod Serling The Americans won when Leonard holed a 45-foot putt on the 17th hole, capping the biggest final-day comeback in Ryder Cup history.

Crenshaw, a student of golf history, talked of 1913, when Francis Ouimet, a former caddie at The Country Club, beat heavily favored British stars Harry Vardon and Ted Ray for the U.S. open title. Ouimet grew up in a house across the street from the 17th hole, where he made birdie in the final round and again in a playoff.

It came on the same green where Leonard made his putt.

"If you don't believe in fate, I do," he said.

The Americans held an emotional team meeting on Saturday night. Everyone spoke. Most cried. A video of past achievements of the American players were shown, along with some good-luck messages from athletes and others who watch the American team. Texas Gov. George W. Bush read a speech from the Alamo.

Crenshaw even had the wife of his mentor, the late Harvey Penick, in the crowd Sunday.

"I can't believe how together these 12 players were," said Love.

And the Americans -- some of the same ones who asked about why they and their favorite charities weren't getting a piece of the vast Ryder Cup money pie, responded. Sutton was brilliant, winning 3½ points, including his rout of Clarke on Sunday. Love earned 2½ points, with Lehman, Mickelson, Woods and Steve Pate earning two each. Only Mark O'Meara was shut out.

"To kind of feel the heat of it all, the magnitude, and even the history of it -- it is something I can't personally put into words," said Duval, who called the event an exhibition earlier this year. "I don't have a vocabulary for that."