SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — This was the Michelle Wie everyone was waiting to see.

Freed up by the support of her U.S. teammates, Wie played with the skill, confidence and daring that has long been expected of her in helping the Americans win their third straight Solheim Cup yesterday with a 16-12 decision over Europe.

The U.S. won the singles 8-4, raising its winning percentage over the tournament to .608.

Wie led the way, going 3-0-1 in her Solheim Cup debut and looks primed to finally deliver on her considerable promise.

"People have seen a different side of me," the 19-year-old from Hawai'i said after her tough, 1-up victory over former Europe captain Helen Alfredsson. "It's just been a lot of fun. There's nothing to describe it. ... This week in general has given me such a confidence boost."

Wie has been saddled since grade school with the burden of being the female equivalent of Tiger Woods. She can outdrive some men — she launched a 305-yarder on one par-5 yesterday, leaving her an 8-iron to the green — and won the Women's Amateur Public Links at 13, making her the youngest winner of a USGA championship for adults. She teed it up with the men, and was in contention for major championships long before she had her driver's license.

But the LPGA Tour rookie is still looking for her first professional victory. Injuries and other missteps had some wondering if she would eventually find her stride or be the latest phenom to flame out.

Based on this week, it's not even a question.

"I would bet you a large amount of money that Michelle will win before the year is out," Cup veteran Juli Inkster said after the U.S. victory.

That's a bold statement, but few who saw Wie at Rich Harvest Farms would bet against it.

Wie drew one of the toughest assignments yesterday. Not only was she the third American out, she was playing Alfredsson. Wie won by making an eagle and four birdies. Her eagle came on the 501-yard second hole, after Alfredsson had stuffed her second shot to 4 feet.

Wie did even better, striping a 5-iron from 197 yards to 3 feet. An apparently stunned Alfredsson missed her putt, but Wie drilled hers.

"It's the best shot I've ever hit, ever," Wie said of the approach. "I mean, I gave myself a little pat on the back."

That eagle set the tone, and Wie was up 3 after six holes. But Alfredsson capitalized on Wie's poor tee shot on the eighth hole, and the match was squared after the 11th hole.

"Helen just played fantastic in a couple of holes," Wie said. "She played great the whole day. It was tough; I had to pull some stuff on her."

Like a monstrous drive.

Wie's drive on the par-5 15th was so long — 305 yards, to be exact — she needed only an 8-iron to reach the green in two. She two-putted from 20 feet for the birdie and the lead.

"I'm 44, I don't hit it that far anymore. I never did, actually," Alfredsson said.

Alfredsson hit a bad tee shot on the par-3 16th, allowing Wie to pick up another hole and guarantee that, at worst, she'd get a half-point out of the match.

Wie lost the 17th hole, but was so amped up after a 335-yard bomb on the 520-yard finishing hole that she started walking as soon as she hit it, leaving her tee stuck in the box.

She hit her approach to 25 feet below the hole, and left it 2 feet short. Alfredsson's 35-foot eagle putt barely missed, and Wie sank her birdie putt to win the match.

"There were times when I thought Michelle was walking on air, she was so pumped up," said U.S. captain Beth Daniel.

Equally impressive has been her attitude. Though Wie lets loose with the occasional fist pump, she often comes across as aloof or reserved.

Not this week.

She may not ever be as energetic as Christina Kim — then again, who is? — but she was animated from the minute she walked onto the first tee Friday morning. She yelled and pumped her fist after big shots, even ran forward when she thought a key putt was going in.

When she and Kim won their fourball match Saturday, it was Wie who turned to the crowd and cupped her hand to her ear, asking for more noise. She laughed when fans gave her her own cheer, a loud "Wheee!"

And when the Americans had clinched their victory yesterday, she grabbed a big American flag and ran around the 18th green.

"I feel like I played great this week, and hopefully that will carry over," Wie said. "But you never know about golf. You can have a good week, you can have a bad week. But I know I had fun this week."

The fun continued at the closing ceremony where the Americans passed around the crystal Solheim Cup, some kissing it, others holding it up for the fans to see.

"It's awesome, especially since it was such a hard-fought battle," Daniel said. "They had to dig deep, they really had to dig deep to win this, and I'm so proud of each and every one of them."

Fittingly, Inkster was at the center of the turnaround.

At 49, she's the oldest player in Solheim Cup history, with a daughter who's only a few months younger than Wie. But she's the heart and the soul of the U.S. team, and everyone on the team lobbied for Daniel to make her a captain's pick — not that Daniel needed much convincing.

Inkster struggled most of the day, down 2 to Gwladys Nocera through 12 holes.

"Beth told us not to look at the board, but I have to look at the board and it was not looking good," Inkster said. "I just kept chattering to myself to say, 'This is an important match, you've got to get at least a half a point here. It's two holes. If you can't win two holes, then you don't deserve to be out here.' "

Win them she did.

She made birdies on 14 and 15, and evened the match with a solid shot into 12 feet on the par-3 16th. She actually went 1 up when Nocera missed a 6-footer for par on the 17th, but bogeyed 18.

Still, Inkster gave the U.S. that critical half-point. It was quite a finish for what Inkster insists will be her last Cup appearance. She has 18 points, most by any U.S. player in Cup play.

"Well, I'm not doing a Brett Favre, but it is," said Inkster. "I want to come out and watch. These girls are great. They've got a lot of young talent, and it needs to be passed down right now."

That talent is what made the Americans heavy favorites coming into the week.

They had some of the top players in the world while four of Europe's players were ranked 125th or lower. Annika Sorenstam, Europe's anchor the last decade, is no longer playing. And the United States had won the last two Solheim Cups, and was unbeaten on U.S. soil.

But Europe captain Alison Nicholas pulled out every trick she could this week to inspire her team, including video messages from Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, whose "Spanish Armada" was regarded as the greatest partnership in Ryder Cup history.

Midway through the afternoon, Europe was leading in six of the 12 matches.

" 'Get that red on the (score)board, get that red on the board,' that's all I was thinking about," Wie said.

Angela Stanford gave the Americans their first boost, beating Becky Brewerton 5 and 4 to give the United States the first point of the day. Paula Creamer followed with a victory over Suzann Pettersen shortly after, and Wie held off Alfredsson.

As Wie was finishing, Inkster and Brittany Lang were turning around matches that appeared to be going in Europe's win column, scratching out critical halves.

Laura Davies was up 3 on Lang through 15 holes, and went to 17 knowing the worst she could do was win a half point. But the four-time major champion closed with back-to-back bogeys.

"I was obviously very disappointed because it looked like it was going to be 6-all or 6 1/2 one way or another," Davies said. "But now, as it turns out, it wasn't that important."

Not on the scoreboard, anyway.