Europe’s triumphant Ryder Cup players enjoyed some fun at the expense of an American journalist after their victory at Le Golf National.

Golf.com writer Alan Shipnuck wrote a column last year in which he predicted the United States would “roll to victory in Paris” and set the stage for more than a decade of “blowouts” in the biennial contest.

And the likes of Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia were not about to let Shipnuck forget it as he sat in the winning team’s press conference following their seven-point victory on Sunday.

“We’ve known each other for a long, long time and we get along well,” Rory McIlroy said in answer to a question about European team solidarity.

“I think collectively, we all have one question: Where is Alan Shipnuck?”

That drew cheers from McIlroy’s team-mates and Garcia added: “I don’t know how good a predictor you are.”

Shipnuck later took to Twitter to praise Thomas Bjorn’s men, saying: “Sixth row in the press conference, and I raised my hand and took the deserved hazing from the whole team. The European players are great fun – they’ve always understood that my column was a bit of cheekiness.

“@IanJamesPoulter spent the whole press conference winking at me while taking sips. I nabbed his champagne glass as a souvenir. Let me state for record this Euro team was amazing and they richly deserve the Cup. Cheers.”