Sometimes you don't win the competition but you claim a significant victory of sorts by earning the respect of a formidable opponent.

By the time Matt Kuchar danced off the 17th green at Royal Melbourne after sinking the putt that assured the USA's victory in the Presidents Cup the relatively lowly ranked Internationals had done that and more.

Those who live by the awful creed "the runner-up is the first loser" will tell you from a cosy non-engaged distance that the Internationals should be gutted by their defeat.

Those who don't just watch big-time sport but really feel it will know better.

Sure, after leading the Presidents Cup for three days this loss will hurt. But the Internationals' quite valid consolation at the end of four days of against-the-odds achievement should be the celebration of their victorious opponents.

This could have been another box-ticking exercise for the Americans. But there was nothing perfunctory about the American response to an 11th victory in 13 editions of a usually lopsided event — as the emotional tears of US captain Tiger Woods betrayed.

The Americans come-from-behind victory was not the result the crowd in Melbourne, capital of the fledgling state of International, had hoped for.

Tiger Woods's emotional reaction showed what it meant to overcome the Internationals' challenge in Melbourne. ( AP: Andy Brownbill )

But if you were to script the Presidents Cup you would have been hard-pressed to produce something more exhilarating than what took place at Royal Melbourne over four engrossing days.

The likes of Im Sung-jae and Abraham Ancer, names unfamiliar to even some ardent sports fans, became instant superstars as they bettered their storied American rivals.

Patrick Reed played a pitch-perfect villain by responding to the taunts of the crowd, although not quite so convincingly as his caddie who was banned from the final day after tangling with a heckler.

Ernie Els provided a masterclass in underdog captaincy with a cool demeanour fittingly reminiscent of the late Peter Thomson, who had led the Internationals to victory at the same venue.

Ernie Els's cool demeanour throughout kept the Internationals' underdog dream alive to the final round. ( AP: Andy Brownbill )

An event that has paled beside its big brother the Ryder Cup for many years suddenly felt like a world-class competition rather than a symbolic exhibition.

Significantly, match play golf in its various formats produced the kind of compelling showdowns we only rarely see at the professional level because tournament promoters don't want marquee players knocked out before the weekend.

Meanwhile, Royal Melbourne (yet again) confirmed its place among the world's great courses with its undulating fairways and greens and punitive hazards — a refreshing antidote to the mindless target golf of the major tours where tournaments have become propaganda exercises in the arms race between club and ball manufacturers.

The result was that few, if any, Australian golf events have created as much excitement since the Norman era.

Consequently, some of us who have been starved of local content again fell in love with the game in Australia — as opposed to the still-excellent Australian contribution to golf elsewhere.

So much so it is tempting to suggest the Presidents Cup could represent a turning point for a sport that has gradually relinquished its once-prominent place on the summer sports calendar.

Adam Scott grimaces during his loss in the final round. ( AP: Andy Brownbill )

You might optimistically imagine the throngs who turned up to watch all four days of the President Cup coming back for more and promoters and sponsors queuing up to back local tournaments.

This wilfully ignores the enduring factors that gradually whittled away at the Australian PGA Tour — the scheduling conflicts with the ever-expanding US and European Tours, the massive growth in prizemoney that meant not even a six-figure appearance fee and a pair of first-class tickets could tempt most of the game's best players to try their luck here.

In that context, you wonder whether the splendour and excitement of the Presidents Cup might even work against the more modest Australian tour events that remain.

Turning up for a bucket list experience such as watching Tiger Woods recording a perfect 3-0 while captaining his team is fine dining in comparison to the drive-through fare offered by most local events.

What the Presidents Cup could do is drive participation rates in a game that has experienced significant challenges in an era when time-poor workers struggle to find five hours to complete 18 holes, let alone the obligatory round of post-round drinks.

Golf is not diminishing as a participant sport. A report released by Golf Australia in 2018 showed more people were playing the game, but less were becoming club members.

This underlined the advantage Australia has had over nearly every country in producing top-line players — a vastly favourable courses-to-players ratio that means the game is accessible and still relatively cheap.

If the Presidents Cup has inspired more kids to play the game they won't be deprived of opportunity as they might be in some countries where it remains relatively inaccessible for many.

The enduring disappointment is that watching the players that such favourable conditions produce will mostly be a virtual experience, showcased on TV rather than experienced more regularly in the flesh as it was with Norman and those before him.

But that is another reason to savour what we saw at Royal Melbourne over the past few days.

Australia no longer hosts as many great tournaments as our many world-class players and, particularly, world-class courses deserve.

But when we put on a big golf show it never disappoints.