DAVIS LOVE may not admit it, but he will probably be feeling a bit nervous at the moment, despite sitting on a 5-3 lead.
The American captain will not need reminding that his 2012 team also led 5-3 at the end of the first day.
And we all remember what happened at Medinah with Ian Poulter leading the fightback.
It looked like the European team were already in need of another miracle as they were blown away 4-0 in the foursomes, a fate no European team has ever suffered.
On both previous occasions when they were whitewashed in the opening session, the men in blue were playing under the Great Britain and Ireland banner.
But European captain Darren Clarke has played in enough Ryder Cups to know that this was no time to panic.
With one exception he got his afternoon pairings spot on, and his team responded by winning three of the fourball matches in emphatic style.
If Clarke could be criticised it was for sending Martin Kaymer out a second time, when he had done little to help Sergio Garcia to stand firm in the face of the US tidal wave in the foursomes.
Yes, he had promised Danny Willett a run in the second session, to prevent him stewing for too long on the rumpus caused by his brother’s ill- advised rant at all things American.
And maybe he needed an experienced partner — which would have meant the only other option was Lee Westwood, who was even worse than Kaymer in the fourballs.
A member of the huge American entourage walking beside Tiger Woods during the morning foursomes summed it up all too well.
He told Woods: “The way Westwood is playing, he couldn’t hit the ocean from the beach!”
To be fair to Westwood, he admitted he had a shocker, and made no attempt to put himself back in the firing line for the fourballs.
And maybe it is easier to say so with hindsight, but would it have been any more of a risk to have put Willett out with another rookie in Chris Wood, someone he grew up playing golf with and who could have kept him focussed?
Yet Clarke would undoubtedly have settled for a two-point deficit after that disastrous first session.
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It will be fascinating to see who sleeps easier tonight if the 5-3 scoreline is repeated, and the Americans go into the singles with a 10-6 lead. More shades of Brookline there!
Just as they did four years ago, the Europeans are entitled to feel they have snatched the all-important momentum back from their opponents.
The most telling blow was delivered by the marquee European pairing of Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
The Olympic gold medallist and his Open champion partner were clearly stung by their foursomes defeat to the cocky American combination of Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth.
They went straight to Clarke and told him not to even think of splitting them up — or to consider moving them away from their regular role as the European team’s spearhead.
And they made their point in emphatic style by blowing the previously undefeated Americans away.
Nine birdies and no bogeys in 14 holes will usually get the job done against any opposition.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello entered his first Ryder Cup saying he dreamed of forming a Ballesteros-Olazabal style pairing with fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia.
That ambition did not seem quite so fanciful after they dovetailed superbly to ease to a 3&2 victory over Ryan Moore and JB Holmes, sent out as part of Love’s pre-conceived plan to give all 12 of his players an outing on day one.
That strategy paid off as Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka claimed their emphatic victory over Willett and Kaymer.
But you still had to wonder whether Love had missed a trick by not sending out American talisman Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler for a second stint, after they finished in a blaze of glory against McIlroy and Andy Sullivan a few hours earlier.
McIlroy bounced back brilliantly to partner Thomas Pieters to a crucial victory over Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar in the final fourball contest.
Their 3&2 victory — completed in dazzling style with a McIlroy eagle from 15ft, was another indication that the momentum may well have turned Europe’s way. Maybe miracles do happen more often than we think.
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