Louisville, Ky. ? They lined up across the Valhalla clubhouse balcony late Sunday afternoon, side by side in their matching smiles and champagne-soaked shirts.

The American Ryder Cup team, an endangered species before the past few days, waved flags, led cheers and sang off-key songs the way they’ve seen the Europeans do for too long.

Fans gathered below and transformed the European fight song ‘Ole, Ole, Ole’ into the Americanized version ‘No Way, No Way, No Way.’

Kim, the precocious motor of the team, pulled off Paul Azinger’s cap and poured champagne over his captain’s head. Azinger tipped back his head and let it wash over him like a shower, rubbing it in like shampoo.

The smiles were contagious. The joy palpable. The relief immense.

Azinger said this Ryder Cup victory belonged to his players and, true, they were the ones who did the heavy lifting, taking down Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and the European monster that had loomed over recent Ryder Cup matches as ominously as Russia over Europe in the Cold War days.

But Azinger deserves enormous credit for constructing a game plan, selling it to his cast of independent contractors and convincing them to buy into the way they would if it were a rich new equipment contract.

While his pal and counterpart Nick Faldo gets roasted in the British press for the way he handled his team, Azinger is the man who brought together an American success story.

There was a conviction to his captaincy that future captains should emulate.

It was Azinger who insisted on making the Kentucky crowd a factor, not just because Perry and J.B. Holmes grew up in horse country, but because he knew it would be vital to a potential U.S victory.

Never mind what Europe’s Lee Westwood said after failing to win a match-“Some of the things that have been said to me this week have been shameful. I’ve been abused from start to finish,” Westwood whined-Azinger and the Americans, fans included, got it right this time.

The Americans have been criticized in recent years for not caring enough about the Ryder Cup, but there was a sense in Louisville that this year was different.

There was great consternation about having six rookies on the team. They went 9-4-8. Compare that to the 0-7-5 record of Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia.

That’s how you win a Ryder Cup.

All you had to see was Hunter Mahan’s reaction when his 40-foot birdie putt rammed into the hole on the 17th hole Sunday afternoon or Boo Weekley’s bows to the crowd after his win.

If a single match crystallized the week, it was Kim’s 5&4 victory over Garcia that kicked off Sunday.

The Americans, lost in the emotional wilderness for a decade, found their Sergio in Anthony Kim. His exuberance was infectious and his on-the-edge aggressiveness gave the Americans a model.

As they stood on the balcony in their glory late Sunday, the fans began chanting, “We want the cup! We want the cup!”

From above, the American team answered, “We’ve got the cup! We’ve got the cup!”

It sounded as if they were singing.