EUROPE were inspired by rookies Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Thomas Pieters as they roared to within a point of America.
Cabrera-Bello and partner Sergio Garcia came from four-down to earn a half with Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
That came after newboy Thomas Pieters and Rory McIlroy saw off Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson 4&2.
Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka beat Henrik Stenson and Matt Fitzpatrick 3&2 but Europe got another point through Chris Wood and Justin Rose saw off Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson one up.
The fourballs pairings are as follows:
Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson vs Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters
JB Holmes and Ryan Moore vs Danny Willett and Lee Westwood
Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar vs Martin Kaymer and Sergio Garcia
Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth vs Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson
How it happened
Fowler & Mickelson lost to McIlroy & Pieters 4&2
McIlroy and Pieters picked up where they left off the night before – when the Ulsterman’s eagle competed a thumping fourballs victory – as they started birdie-birdie, and threw in a third one at the fifth.
With Mickelson again spraying the ball to all corners of Hazeltine that flying start was good enough to put the European duo three up.
By that time Mickelson had found two bunkers, turned his club to play a right-handed shot for the second day running, and pulled off a trademark flop shot from the fourth tee – when they were playing the third hole!
But Lefty threw his team a lifeline when he holed a ridiculous sixty footer on the short eighth to prevent them going four down, and they took the next two holes from their shell-shocked opponents.
The fightback was quickly halted as The European pair nailed birdie putts at 11and 15 to restore their three hole advantage, and birdie number six got the job done on the 16th.
Snedeker & Koepka beat Stenson & Fitzpatrick 3&2
The outcome of this scrappy affair might have been very different if the Americans had not enjoyed an outrageous stroke of luck when Kopeka hit a stone cold shank on the 12th hole.
The American were rocking as Stenson and Fitzpatrick came back from two down after four holes to level the match with a birdie on the 11th.
Kopeka’s wild shot squirted across the fairway, sending spectators scattering for cover, and it looked destined to finish in the total filth fifty yards wide of the hole.
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Instead it whacked into a tree – and even then it could easily have finished in the water, but instead it took a soft bounce and landed short of the hazard.
The Americans escaped with a bogey, and halved the hole as their opponents also made a hash of it. That proved a turning point, and the Americans fired four successive bogeys for a deceptively emphatic-looking victory.
Walker & Z Johnson lost to Rose & Wood one down
The European pair seemed to have this one in total control for most of the match, as they burst into life as the first six holes were shared – one of them with bogey sixes!
Rose and his young partner –making a belated first appearance in the event – then started to hit their straps, and birdies at the seventh and tenth saw them race three up.
But after USPGA champion Walker drained a 25 footer on the 14th to pull one back, it looked like Rose might regret a brainless decision to go for the green in two at the long 16th.
The Americans had already been forced to lay up after finding trouble off the tee. With a comfortable lead there was no need for Rose to take any risks –but he pulled out his fairway wood, and watchedin anguish as his ball disappeared into a watery grave.
They lost that one, making the closing holes far more anxious than they should have been. But Johnson’s over-cooked approach into the stands at the 18th ended the home team’s hopes.
Reed & Spieth halved with Garcia & Cabrera-Bello
The Spanish duo staged an astonishing comeback to snatch a previous half point in this pulsating battle, after finding themselves four down with just six holes to play.
The got plenty of help from their opponents, with Spieth and Reed producing flawless golf to play the first 12 holes in six under par – and then chucking in a hat-trick of bogeys from nowhere.
Garcia and Garcia scented blood, and brilliant birdies at the 16th and 17th holes pulled them level, and gave them chance of an incredible win.
It looked likely when Cabrera-Bello split the final fairway and Garcia bashed his second into the heart of the green, while the Americans were hacking their way down nervously the hole.
Their first two shots both finished in the rough, and Reed had to hole a six footer for the half – but he was up to the task, while Garcia had no difficulty finishing off from just inside three feet.
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