We lacked charisma, says Sutton

Hal Sutton admitted that the American team failed to live up to expectations in their crushing defeat by Europe.

The American captain said: "We never got the charisma going. We caught glimpses of it, but no more and the truth is the Europeans outplayed us.

"I made mistakes and I take responsibility for them. The pairings I set didn't create any charisma. But I'm going to live with what I did, move on and hug my kids tomorrow.

"This is such a spectacular event and there is a lot of pressure on these guys. The ones who handle the pressure and get the ball in the hole come out winners, but in golf you learn to lose a lot."

Stepping down as US captain, Sutton will hand over the Ryder Cup reins to someone else for 2006 at the K Club near Dublin.

Meanwhile, he bristled at suggestions that the US team had less spirit than the Europeans and suggested the home side played their games around getting success with the one big shot.

Sutton added: "I don't think any team could be more together than our team were.

"But one thing you have to learn when you play golf is how to lose as well as win.

"Some of us have to get a little more used to that than others.

"You know, we're bleeding but we're not dead. We'll get back up, we'll fight again."