Should winning Ryder Cup alternate shot and four-ball give Europe bragging rights?

Europe can keep the Ryder Cup. The Euros deserve it — they beat the U.S. team 15-13 under the terms of the competition.

But I think the Americans can claim victory, too. Battling head-to-head in match-play for the only time on Sunday, the U.S. went 6-1-4 and dominated the points distribution 8-3. That should — but it won’t — keep Europeans from crowing too much about beating the Yanks on their home soil.

As has happened several times in the past, the Europeans dominated best-ball and alternate shot — formats seldom, if ever used in championship pro golf — to pile up the biggest point total.

The Europeans were better at the junk formats. At least, the players weren’t offered the chance to buy mulligans or vie for closest-to-the-pin, longest drive or play one hole from the red tees.

Only one Euro, Ludvig Aberg, won one of the 11 matches Sunday. The Americans won six. The four halved included Bryson DeChambeau’s rally from a five-hole deficit against Matt Fitzpatrick.

But I want to be fair. Maybe the Europeans unconsciously took their collective feet off the gas pedal Sunday after taking a commanding lead. Maybe they tensed up on Sunday, knowing a loss would be the largest collapse in Ryder Cup history.

But who knows? Maybe the last four matches — the U.S. won one and three were halved — would have finished differently if Shane Lowry’s 6-foot putt at 18 hadn’t produced the winning half-point. Pressure can play a big role at the Ryder Cup.

I was there at Kiawah Island in 1991 when Mark Calcavecchia, needing only to avoid the water on the par-3 17th hole to clinch a U.S. victory, shanked his shot in the water then missed a 3-foot putt to allow Colin Montgomerie, who found the water first at 17, to win the last four holes and bring the team competition to the final match.

In that final match, Hale Irwin played a poor chip shot at 18 followed by a weak par putt to give Bernhard Langer — he missed — the opportunity to make a 5 1/2-footer and allow Europe to retain the Cup at the War at the Shore.

That’s right. Despite what should have been an insurmountable lead, the Euros claimed a half-point before the singles started, citing an injury to Viktor Hovland. Yes, the U.S. has taken advantage of the same rule in the past. But shouldn’t that result in a forfeit? That’s what happens in team competition in tennis, wrestling and track and field.

It’s time to change the competition format. There’s precedent. Remember, the competition was between a U.S. team and a team from Great Britain and Ireland until the 1980s. And until players from the entire European continent joined the British and Irish, the Ryder Cup was a low-key, fun event.

As originated, the Ryder Cup was a friendly exhibition, not a blockbuster with loud, raucous and vulgar New York galleries, going toe-to-toe on TV with the NFL.

Make team qualification for both sides based entirely on a merit-based points system. Eliminate the buddy system and the exclusion of deserving young players.

Make all the rounds single-player match play. No more junk formats. Just head-to-head golf. Reduce or eliminate players sitting out in the first four rounds. Nick Faldo recounted how, in his day, Europe relied on a half-dozen players to “do the heavy lifting.” Europe now has the quality depth needed to allow its entire roster to play every round.

May the best team win — in a suitable format for making that determination. This weekend, the best team was hard to identify. I’ll admit, I thought Europe had more players with successful track records on the big stage. Europe was my pre-event pick to win. But by dominating head-to-head on Sunday, the U.S. created plenty of reasonable doubt.