A sombre US skipper Davis Love was reeling from Europe's shock upset, saying his team may have suffered from a case of over-confidence.
"We're all kind of stunned," Love said. "We know what it feels like now from the '99 Ryder Cup.
"It's a little bit shocking. We were playing so well. Everybody on our team was playing so well, we just figured it didn't matter how we sent them out there.
"But we put who we thought was our hot players up front and we put who we thought was our steady players in the back that would get us points."
Love's game plan started to unravel from the start of the singles on Sunday.
The Europeans came out with plenty of fire and went on to win eight of 12 singles matches for a 14-1/2 to 13-1/2 total to equal the greatest final-day comeback in Ryder Cup history.