Pierre Fulke and Davis Love III brought their match to a premature end after Europe won the Ryder Cup.

The duo were all square midway through the 18th when Paul McGinley sunk a 10-foot putt for half a point and the cup victory.

As the European players and wives swamped the final green, Fulke and Love decided to end their contest, with the players earning a half each for their respective teams.

The episode was reminiscent of the final green in 1999 at Brookline where Justin Leonard holed a 40-foot putt against Jose Maria Olazabal.

And afterwards Love explained his decision.

He said: "I asked our match referee Andy McFee if it was okay if we just halved it there and then.

"He said 'well, okay but it's not good form. You can do whatever you want, though'.

"We didn't need to play with people on the fairway."

During their tie, Love had led for much of the front nine, netting his first birdie on the opening hole and looked comfortable in the lead.

But the contest came to life on the ninth when the American bogeyed to make it all square.

The lead continually began to change from there, with first advantage going to Europe on the 11th.

Just when the momentum looked to be heading Fulke's way, Love recorded consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th, the second because of a delightful chip from just off the green.

Fulke, though, refused to buckle and his continuing pressure had the desired effect on his rival, causing him to bogey the 16th.

Love landed his second shot into the bunker and, after overhitting his chip, took two further strokes on the green.

The pair arrived on the final tee all square and opted to end their match after finding the fairway with their tee shots.

Watch a round-up of the final day's action