The United States is back on top in the world of golf. It is no question the Americans have struggled recently at the Ryder Cup. Europe has gotten the best of us in recent years but after a spectacular performance, the US won the trophy back for the first time in eight years.

The Ryder Cup takes place every two years and alternates between courses in the United States and Europe. This year the tournament was held in Chaska, Minnesota at Hazeltine National.

The 41st Ryder Cup teams played in Arnold Palmer’s memory as he passed away just a week before the tournament. Palmer is America’s all-time winningest Ryder Cup player and one of the greatest golfers of all-time so it seemed obvious to dedicate this tournament to him.

The Americans felt Palmer’s presence and played with great inspiration. Not only did the US win, they won 17-11, which is a very impressive margin of victory.

The Ryder Cup format consists of the US and Europe each taking their best 12 golfers and going against each other in head-to-head match play. Team USA takes the top eight players in the point standings and have four captain picks, while Team Europe takes the top nine players in the points list and three captain picks.

Each of the first two days includes one four-match session of four-balls and one four-match session of foursomes. The final day is reserved for 12 single matches. As for scoring, there are 28 total matches, with each match worth one point. Since there are no extra holes in Ryder Cup matches, each tie after 18 holes is half a point.

The European team competed with six rookies on their squad. These were very talented rookies but were simply outmatched over the weekend.

The US came out hot and found themselves up 4-0 in the opening session and were in control the entire weekend. Every player for the US won a match and 10 of the 12 helped earn two points or more.

Davis Love III was the US captain and one of his picks for the team was Ryan Moore, who ended up earning the final point necessary for the Americans to clinch the Ryder Cup. This was just one of the incredible stories of the weekend.

Patrick Reed and Rory Mcllroy battled in an instant classic during the leadoff singles match. These were the two hottest golfers in the Cup and the pairing gave all golf fans exactly what they wanted to see.

Reed defeated Mcllory after a round filled of trading birdies and sinking long putts like we’ve never seen before. Brooks Koepka, a rookie for the US, played so well that he assured yet another piece to the great young talent of the US. Phil Mickelson, a veteran, solidified his future as a US Ryder Cup captain with his terrific performance.

Mickelson summed up the weekend perfectly by saying, “[The US Team] brought out some of their best golf.”

We’re bringing home the Ryder Cup because of it.