St. Simons Island, Ga. ? No one will ever mistake the UBS Warburg Cup for the Ryder Cup, although the action sure looked familiar Sunday.

Paul Azinger holed another dramatic bunker shot.

Scott Hoch had another strong performance go to waste when he ran into a European tour player who made just about every putt.

Curtis Strange and Sam Torrance mixed it up again, this time with clubs in their hands.

The big difference was the outcome – the United States won.

Behind strong performances from Hale Irwin and Tom Lehman in terrible weather, the Americans easily retained the UBS Warburg Cup and kept Arnold Palmer undefeated as a captain in cup competition.

The other big difference: No one got too wrapped up over who won the trophy.

“I’ve been captain of a couple of Ryder Cup teams, and there wasn’t nearly as much warmth as it is now,” Palmer said. “That pleases me very much.”

The warmth came from the camaraderie, certainly not the weather.

The final score was 14 1/2-9 1/2 in matches between the United States and the Rest of the World. Half of the players were from the 40-49 age group, the other half 50 and over.

Most have played long enough to know this was a tough day – temperatures in the mid-40s with gusts up to 30 mph, strong enough to twice blow Eduardo Romero’s ball off the green on No. 7.

“Thank you all for coming out. It was a miserable day for one and all,” Irwin said.

It was more tolerable for the Americans.

Victory was never in doubt, even though World captain Gary Player atoned for his loss last year by whipping Palmer, 6 and 5, in the opening match.

Strange displayed a brilliant short game in a 4-and-3 victory over Torrance, remaining unbeaten in singles play against his fellow Ryder Cup captain. They halved their Warburg Cup match last year, and Strange beat him in a Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf exhibition last year.

Has he ever lost to Torrance?

“Yeah, two months ago,” Strange said. “The only time it mattered.”

That would be the Ryder Cup, where Torrance guided the Europeans to a 15 1/2-12 1/2 victory at The Belfry.