ST. LEON-ROT, Germany — Some of the U.S. supporters at Sunday’s Solheim Cup golf tournament were subdued, politely clapping and offering words of encouragement to the U.S. team inside the ropes.

Many, however, were the more brash, American-flag-waving types who had taken over sections of bleachers, releasing booming chants of “USA! USA!” over the German countryside.

For much of the weekend, it was the yellow-and-blue European Union crowd that had reason to cheer as the “home team” took a 10-6 lead into Sunday’s singles match in the biennial event.

But as the day wore on, a trend began to take shape.

A lack of leaderboards out on the course made it difficult for players on either side — locked into the 12 one-on-one battles that would decide the three-day tournament — to know exactly what was happening elsewhere.

They were left with only vague impressions of the turning momentum.

“It was a lot quieter today,” U.S. player Stacy Lewis said. “I knew that was a good thing.”

And so it was, at least from the perspective of the U.S. team and its fans: The Americans completed a stunning comeback win, taking 8 1/2 of the 12 available points in singles play and claiming the country’s first Solheim Cup win since 2009.

“We played with a lot of heart. We played with a lot of passion,” U.S. team captain Juli Inkster said. “We had a lot of fun, and that’s what the Solheim is about.”

As the U.S. team stormed back to unlikely victory, the American supporters — a diverse group, including friends and family of the players, visiting tourists, expatriates, and servicemembers and dependents — were rewarded for their relentless positivity.

“We were definitely outnumbered in our fans. But our fans that traveled out here, the people that were rooting for us, it was amazing,” said U.S. player Michelle Wie, who dominated her singles match to help secure the win. “The support that we felt, we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Wie was one of the more prominent sports celebrities in action Sunday; just 25, she’s been an ESPN fixture for more than a decade. In 2004, the then-14-year-old phenom became the youngest female player to play an event on the men’s PGA Tour. More recently, Wie won the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, her first major championship.

Ramstein eighth-grader Phoebe Shin took notice, identifying Wie as her favorite player in the event as she hiked the course with her father. The young golfer said she watched how the 24 world-class golfers maintained their focus and took their time with each shot, a valuable lesson she plans to apply to her own game.

American fan Steve Brownless, meanwhile, occupied a front-row vantage point along the ropes on the first fairway alongside his partner, Jo Branch of Scotland. They’ve traveled to numerous golf events across the continent, Brownless said, and have looked forward to the Solheim Cup since securing tickets about a year ago.

Brownless, who lives in London, watched intently from beneath a khaki “USA” hat as two large American flags protruded from his backpack; in stark contrast, Branch wore sunglasses designed with the United Kingdom’s Union Jack flag and a white, blue and yellow ski cap emblazoned with the word “Europe.”

Even in this scenic corner of southern Germany, Brownless and Branch said they didn’t arrive as tourists. They came to the country with a focus as singular as the players they watched on Sunday, the same focus as all of the 29,000-odd people in attendance, regardless of their team allegiance or fervor of their fandom.

“We’re here for the golf,” Brownless said.

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripes

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