DUBLIN, Ohio — Nobody figured that Tiger Woods, bad back and all, would have to hit a meaningful shot on Sunday at the Presidents Cup.

The International side made sure he had to.

Woods took the lead over the unheralded Richard Sterne with a par at the 16th hole and then had to lag a long birdie putt to within a foot to clinch the United States’ fifth consecutive Presidents Cup victory, 18½-15 ½ over the International side.

“It’s been a long week for all of us,” Woods said of the stops and starts inflicted by yet another series of torrential rains at Muirfield Village, where he’s won five Memorial Tournaments. “I’m a little bit sore. Certainly I’m looking forward to not touching a club in a while.”

Teeing off ninth in the U.S. order in singles, it was Woods who supplied the clincher for the third time in a row in the biennial international competition against a team comprised of players from everywhere in the world except Europe.

A strong finish in foursomes that were concluded early on Sunday morning gave the Americans an overwhelming 14-8 lead. They needed to win just 3½ of the 12 singles matches in order to run their record to 8-1-1 all-time in the event.

Yet for at least a little while in between storm fronts on Sunday, it appeared the International team might just duplicate the final-day turnaround engineered by the European Ryder Cup team against the Americans a year ago.

An emotional Nick Price, the International captain, praised his team’s hard work and togetherness.