Rob Carr / AP

Members of the U.S. team charge onto the 18th green after Chris DiMarco won his match against Stuart Appleby of Australia, giving the Americans the Presidents Cup on Sunday.

No one expected Couples to beat Singh again, least of all the Fijian.

On the first tee, Singh mentioned that someone should have a cart ready to bring Couples back in after 12 holes.

“Whether he was kidding or not,” Davis Love III said, “Tiger Woods wouldn’t say it; Jack Nicklaus wouldn’t say it.”

Neither Singh nor any other player on the International team showed up at their news conference.

Couples fell behind on the first hole and never trailed over the final 15, finishing off Singh with a birdie that shook the course with the loudest cheer of the day.

“I thought if I could play with him and handle him, several guys would be excited about that,” Couples said. “And then the putt on the 18th was thrilling. Career-wise, it doesn’t mean anything. Team-wise, it was awesome.”

Woods lost for the first time in a Presidents Cup singles match, falling to Retief Goosen on the 17th hole. Goosen also went unbeaten for the week at 4-0-1. But the Americans got loads of help, from Jim Furyk (3-0-2) beating Adam Scott, and Kenny Perry and David Toms getting their first points of the week.

It was another tough loss for the Internationals, who battled the Americans to a tie in team matches the first three days and fought back from early deficits throughout the 12 singles matches.

The scoreboard was filled with American red for most of the day, and at one point the Internationals were not leading in any of the matches. Goosen holed two long putts and pulled ahead with a birdie on the 16th to finish the week as the only unbeaten International player.

“All day long I was like, ’Let’s hope it doesn’t come down to our match,”’ DiMarco said. “And sure enough, it came down to our match.”

Wrapped in the arms of his teammates and Nicklaus, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.