THROUGHOUT last week, it was made clear that Jose Maria Olazabal wanted to win the Ryder Cup for the late, the great, Seve Ballesteros. Over the course of Sunday it became clear he was not the only one with that mindset.

Make no mistake about it, the events of the final day at Medinah were as special, as unique as you are ever likely to see in a sporting sense anywhere in the world.

The comebacks of comebacks, in the American's own Chicago backyard, was the greatest of them all. Trailing 10-6 at end the end of the second day, the Europeans were inspired. Inspired to deliver the unthinkable.

That inspiration had to come from somewhere and, by Olazabal's strong tear-jerking talks in team meetings, it was the legend of Ballesteros which sparked the comeback of comebacks.

Silhouettes of Ballesteros were stitched on their golf bags, on the left sleeves of their white polo shirts and again on their navy blue sweaters above their navy blue trousers - Seve's trademark colours.

Olazabal was determined to make this year's Ryder Cup special, but not even he could have imagined just how special some 15 months after his great friend and the man he idolised lost his battle with cancer at the age of 54.

But when Germany's Martin Kaymer holed for par at the 18th to ensure the Ryder Cup was staying with Europe, the emotions of more than a year - dating back to Ballesteros' death - all came flooding out.

There was the relief of completing the remarkable and the jubilation of beating the United States on the other side of the Atlantic, where the task was made harder by the constant backing the golfers wearing stars and stripes received.

But with Olazabal's words ringing in their ears, in their minds, there was no disguising that their Spanish captain's constant reminders about Seve struck a chord before and after the Miracle of Medinah.

Despite the fact every golfer on show is a millionaire, the pure sense of sporting glory shone through on an unforgettable evening for Team Europe - and their adored captain.

"It's not just me. I think these guys did it also for him," admitted Olazabal. "I'm just glad that I had the 12 men on my side ready to give their best during the whole week.

"All these guys know how much this week has meant to me. I get emotional about it but I want to thank them for what they did. They gave me the best week of my life."

Aside from the incredible amount of affection for Ballesteros that will stand the test of time, the Ryder Cup has once again shown it has the ability to unite a continent in pursuit of glory.

While Ian Poulter's incredible heroics as the leading points scorer over the three days was followed up heroic performances from other Brits such as Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy, there was also something special about the way a German, a Swede and a Belgian had celebratory songs sang about them.

For those who thought golf didn't have the ability to conjure up such special occasions, think again. A sport which is normally heavily focused on the individual, was magical because of a team. Europe.