Ryder Cup 2018: Team Europe extend their lead after Saturday fourballs to leave USA with a mountain to climb

The hosts sealed three wins from the morning session and head into the foursomes with an 8-4 lead

Pick your moment, pick your player. A morning of incredible golf from Team Europe put the USA further on the back foot after the foursomes, extending their two-point overnight lead to four and carrying with it a momentum that felt as if it could kill off the Americans in the afternoon session.

Europe sealed three wins of incrementally increasing style: 2&1 for Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia over Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, 3&2 for Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton over Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler, then 4&3 for the pairing of the weekend - Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood - over Tiger Woods and a disastrous Patrick Reed.

But an American win in the final match-up put some much-needed red on the board for the first time since Friday morning. Eight consecutive European victories - a record - had threatened to wash away all hopes of the star-studded US team even making this a contest but the way Jordan Spieth and, in particular, Justin Thomas played to beat Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm in match four was outstanding. It was the only match of the morning in which the lead changed hands, but the Americans managed ten birdies between them to eventually splatter the scoreboard with red and stave off the blues.

The Europeans came out firing, continuing their form from yesterday afternoon and buoyed by a crowd who had, late on Friday evening, been buoyed by them. For the Americans, the opposite was true. Fowler missed the first green by an entire body of water while Finau, Reed and Woods all made a mess of the third where Spieth also found water. Meanwhile, the Europeans continued to make the shots when it mattered and, at one point, led all four matches.

Garcia had a morning that will live with him forever, draining a monster that sent the natural amphitheatre of fans around the eleventh green into raptures. Finau would miss a short putt to send the European pairing four ahead with only seven holes to play and that match looked as good as done until a spirited fightback took it to the penultimate hole with McIlroy and Garcia just one hole ahead.

But the Spaniard held his nerve and sank a huge putt at 17 to win the hole and get Europe going. Casey and Hatton only needed 16 holes, Frankie goes to Moliwood took just 15, almost dancing down the fairway.

At one point, wherever you were on the course it felt like you were only 30 seconds away from another distant roar, another “Olé, olé, olé”, another rendition of “Europe’s on fire, USA are terrified.”

Those six who finished early were treated to the victory lap, chauffeured on buggies down the 18th - a hole that saw no action on Saturday morning - and in front of the wildly partisan home crowds for a handful of spine-tingling ovations.

As good as Europe were, the US were bad and nobody worse than Patrick Reed.

The self-styled Captain America could only marvel as he and Woods were blown away, with Reed seemingly allergic to the fairway and still having the temerity to goad the boisterous local fans.

Reed had the temerity to shush the crowds but the American was way off form during Saturday's morning session (AP)

“Reed just made the shush gesture to the crowd,” commented Butch Harmon on commentary. “I think he should shush himself and make some more birdies.”

More wouldn’t have been particularly difficult. He made one all morning and was benched for the afternoon foursomes.

Four points in it for now, but it's still all to play for.