The trophy is contested by teams of amateur men’s golfers representing the US and Britain and Ireland.

Having won the last three editions, the US were favourites coming into the match played on the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland, as they can call on eight of the top ten players in the world amateur golf rankings.

Britain led 3-1 after the opening day’s foursomes matches and extended their advantage to 7.5 to 4.5 points after the Saturday singles matches.

For the Sunday foursomes, US captain Mike McCoy paired his two best players, top-ranked amateur Gordon Sargent and reigning US amateur champion Nick Dunlap together, and they claimed a one-hole victory over Connor Graham and Calum Scott.

It was one of three US victories in the foursomes, and meant they trailed by just one point 8.5 to 7.5 going into the concluding singles matches.

Sargent and Dunlap both earned crucial points in their singles matches as the US turned the contest around.

Sargent beat John Gough one up after a birdie on the final hole, while Dunlap recovered from three down with four to play to earn a half point against Barclay Brown.

The US won six of the final-day singles matches, with victories also recorded by Caleb Surratt, Stewart Hagestad, Preston Summerhays and Austin Greaser.

The clinching point was secured by David Ford when he overcame Alex Maguire 3 and 2, as the US won the contest overall by 14.5 points to 11.5 points.

The other members of the victorious US team were Dylan Menante, Nick Gabrelcik and Ben James.

Reflecting on the victory US captain Mike McCoy said afterwards: "It's pretty special, it's certainly the pinnacle of my golfing life.

"After the morning session I felt a lot better, like we were really back in the tournament and had a chance to win this thing.

"Last night I was pretty concerned as the mornings are historically not our strong suit, but the guys played great and I think the morning was what made the day."