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By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

MONTREAL -- He contributed more points to the victorious U.S. Team than any other player at The Presidents Cup.

Stewart Cink's easy victory over Nick O'Hern set the early tone. (WireImage)

In fact, only two players -- Mark O'Meara in 1996 and Shigeki Maruyama in 1998 -- have ever won more points in the biennial team competition than the 4 ½ that David Toms collected this week at Royal Montreal. And they had to win all five matches to do it.

When asked to access his performance in the 19 ½ -14 ½ victory, though, the soft-spoken man from Louisiana talked more about his partners -- Zach Johnson , Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods and Woody Austin -- than he did about his own clutch play.

"So just a lot of things I'll take from this week, a lot of new partners, a lot of good times," Toms said. "You know, I was lucky enough to contribute to the team."

The match he'll remember most, Toms said, turned out to be the only one he didn't win -- the halve that he and Austin picked up against Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini. And not because of Austin's well-documented dive into the water at the 14th hole, either.

"That was all funny and adds to his legacy, ... but (it was) the way that he finished up, birdieing last three holes," Toms said. "That was pretty impressive stuff and I was lucky enough to be his partner to see it. That was pretty gutsy, one of the gutsiest things I've seen in golf, really, to being totally soaked and a couple of holes later finishing up like that and for us to get a half point that was pretty awesome."

Furyk echoed Toms' sentiments. The 43-year-old Austin had never played in an international team match play competition, but he wasted no time in proving he belonged with one win, three halves and only one loss in Singles.

As important as the 2 ½ points Austin contributed were, though, he also provided the emotional lift of a Chris DiMarco, who was a mainstay on so many U.S. Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams. And no where was that more evident than in his clutch performance down the stretch in his Four-Ball match with Toms.

"He should be proud of the way he played, though, because no one played harder on the team," Furyk said. "No one else birdied 16, 17 and 18 when they had to. So I know we're all proud of him.

Straight-hitting, sweet-putting Scott Verplank went undefeated during the week. (WireImage)

"He's got 11 guys that are proud of him and a lot of guys that are going to respect him for the way he handled himself this week. He's tough."

Austin, who won the Stanford St. Jude Classic earlier this year, was one of four Presidents Cup rookies on the U.S. Team. He played his way onto Jack Nicklaus' squad when he finished second to Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship, which was the final event in which players could earn points to qualify.

The quintessential late bloomer, Austin endeared himself to fans all over the world when he took that nose-dive into the lake beside the 14th green on Friday. He'll take much more away from Royal Montreal, though, than his new nicknames -- Aqua Man and Jacques Cousteau, to name a few.

"It's just been the greatest week," Austin said. "I talked to the other two rookies, Hunter and Lucas, about what we expected this week, and we all expected a fun week, but I could not have imagined this much fun.

"We all get to hang out a little bit on TOUR, but it's more just you play your rounds, you see everyone every once in a while. I don't get the opportunity to have dinner with Phil and ... Tiger and hang around them in their atmosphere or whatever.

"I've gotten a different perspective. I already know how great they are as players and how good they are as people when I'm with them on the golf course. But now I've got to know just how great they are even off the golf course they have been the funniest, greatest teammates I could ever have imagined.

"So if all comes to a close for me at this juncture, I couldn't have asked for a better week. If it continues, I'm going to bust my butt to get into another one, because it's been a blast and a half."

The American celebration started early on Sunday when Stewart Cink dusted Nick O'Hern 6 and 4 in the eighth match of the day. Cink birdied his first five holes and had eight total when O'Hern conceded the clinching 5-footer at the 14th hole.

David Toms led the way with 4.5 points. (WireImage)

The U.S. had come into Sunday's Singles needing just three points to retain the Cup. And after Scott Verplank and Phil Mickelson won their matches, the winning point looked to either be coming from Tiger Woods, in the day's fourth draw, or Cink.

Mike Weir birdied the 17th hole to square the match with Woods the Canadian would eventually win, though, at roughly the same time Cink drew dormie at No. 13. So the honors went to Cink, who was immediately congratulated greenside by Jack and Barbara Nicklaus, as well as Verplank and Lucas Glover.

"That's one thing Phil mentioned earlier this week to us, and he's right," Cink said. "It's one of the best parts of this whole type of experience for all of us, that after the matches are over, no one goes inside to change shoes or goes hits balls or work out or anything.

"Everyone stays out on the golf course. You stay with the wives and the other players, the captains, and you see it all through. That's some of the best memories are formed just in that short amount of time when you can do that. "

With so many of his teammates still on the course, the celebration was more subdued than in some years past. But Cink will always be able to say he secured the Cup for the Americans, who won for the fifth time in seven matches with the International Team.

"I was proud to be the one that did it, but credit doesn't do go to me, it goes to everybody who teed the ball up this week, and everybody who did such a great job of staying in the game," Cink said.

"I was so proud of everybody on this team and proud of myself, too. To win the final point it was something that I didn't know happened at the time but looking back, I'm proud of it."