Once Again, Pavin Plays Mr. Big Shot : Ryder Cup: His chip-in on the 18th hole gives U.S. a 9-7 lead heading into today’s singles matches.

Corey Pavin’s heart must pump graphite or something. He doesn’t have a spine, he has a steel shaft. His second car is a golf cart.

There was Pavin, calmly standing on the fringe of the 18th green in the gathering darkness and the chill Saturday at Oak Hill, chipping the ball onto the slick, short grass and watching it disappear in the bottom of the hole.

It could mean only one thing.

“Gosh, a Ryder Cup moment forever,” Pavin said.

As far as moments go, he doesn’t get very long to savor it.

With partner Loren Roberts looking on, Pavin’s dramatic 18-foot chip-in on the last hole produced a 1-up victory over Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer and a 9-7 lead for the United States in its biennial Ryder Cup confrontation with Europe.

The U.S. team won three of the four better-ball matches in the afternoon immediately after losing three of four alternate-shot matches in the morning. Add it all up and the United States needs only five points from today’s 12 singles matches to keep the Ryder Cup two more years.

“A lot of stuff is going to happen tomorrow,” Pavin said.

That wouldn’t be unusual. In the eight previous U.S.-Europe confrontations, the United States has won the singles seven times. Bernard Gallacher, captain of the European team, said history is for amateurs.

“We live in very changeable times,” Gallacher said. “Amateurs think of history, professionals think of the future. We’re going to win tomorrow.”

Maybe so, but they’re probably going to have to figure out what do do with Pavin and Roberts, first.

Pavin is 3-1 so far and Roberts is 3-0 and the biggest Ryder Cup surprise since the last time anybody found a parking space at Oak Hill.

Pavin missed a six-footer that would have won the 15th hole, but he kept the United States even at No. 16 with a par even though he hit trees with his drive and his second shot.

With Roberts on the 18th green in two, Pavin put his ball on the right fringe with a four-iron from 186 yards in the rough. Roberts rolled a long putt toward the hole and left it only 18 inches short, which enabled Pavin to play the chip aggressively.

“I had Loren in the hole for four, I thought, and all I had to do was get it up there and give it a run,” Pavin said.

While the U.S. players watching began celebrating and captain Lanny Wadkins hugged Curtis Strange, Pavin had no expression. Faldo could still halve the hole, but only if he made a 17-footer with a left-to-right break.

Faldo stroked the ball cleanly, but it rolled past the hole and the United States could start its celebration in earnest.

The Americans had plenty for which to be thankful, at least in the afternoon. Fred Couples chipped in at No. 13, and he and Brad Faxon defeated Sam Torrance and Colin Montgomerie, 4 and 2.

Jay Haas and Phil Mickelson had a similarly benign time, scoring a 3-and-2 decision over Seve Ballesteros and David Gilford. Ian Woosnam and Costantino Rocca defeated Davis Love III and Ben Crenshaw, 3 and 2, but Pavin and Roberts kept the momentum going for the United States with their dramatics.

“I’m pretty confident,” Wadkins said. “I’ve got 12 guys playing well.”

Gallacher sent the European team out Saturday with some pretty simple advice, Rocca said.

“He tell only ‘Play good and make the more points as possible,’ ” Rocca said.

What happened to the U.S. team in the morning was about as ugly as the nearby Genesee River, which is the color of rusted lawn furniture.

The only thing that prevented a total blowout in the alternate-shot matches was a surprising team of Peter Jacobsen and Roberts, who managed a 1-up victory over Woosnam and Philip Walton.

One day’s bonehead to the next day’s hero, Jacobsen completed the evolution with a three-foot putt for par on the 18th hole. That shot came a few minutes after Woosnam just missed chipping in from the front bank of the elevated green.

So it was a tension-filled three-footer Jacobsen found himself standing over to save America’s morning. He just wishes he could explain the pressure better.

“It’s . . . it’s, boy, you know, I wish I could do a Vulcan mind meld here so you can feel it,” Jacobsen said.

For sure, but the way things were going everywhere else on the course in the morning, the U.S. players would have been asking to get beamed the heck out of there if they had the chance.

The other three teams all got trounced. Torrance and Rocca routed Love and Jeff Maggert, 6 and 5. Faldo and Montgomerie downed Strange and Haas, 4 and 2, and Langer and Gilford bounced Pavin and Lehman, 4 and 3.

In the 62 holes in the morning, the United States had three birdies--and only one of them won a hole. Love had a birdie putt conceded to him right after Rocca aced the 167-yard sixth with a five-iron, only the third hole in one in Ryder Cup history.

By the time Jacobsen and Roberts got to the 12th tee with a 1-up lead, the rout was on everywhere else. Wadkins met them there with a plea.

“He said, ‘Look, we need this match or we’re going to get swept,’ ” Jacobsen said.

Roberts missed one fairway in two days, but it happened to be at No. 18 this time, trying to protect the 1-up lead. Jacobsen hit a nine-iron from the heavy rough to about 56 feet and Roberts knocked a sand wedge to three feet, below the hole, where Jacobsen coaxed in the putt.

He said it wasn’t easy.

“You’re thinking you’re going to miss the hole, you’re going to drop the putter, you’re going to whiff the ball, anything,” Jacobsen said. “You never get those thoughts out of your mind.”

As for just how Pavin’s chip-in is going to affect the Europeans, Roberts said probably not too much.

“I don’t think it did anything to them except make the score 9-7,” he said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Today’s Singles

Pairings

Including players’ records in Ryder Cup singles play. Times Pacific . * 6:15 a.m.

Seve Ballesteros (1-3-2)

vs. Tom Lehman (0-0).

* 6:27 a.m.

Howard Clark (3-2)

vs. Peter Jacobsen (0-1).

* 6:39 a.m.

Mark James (1-4-1)

vs. Jeff Maggert (0-0).

* 6:51 a.m.

Ian Woosnam (0-5-1)

vs. Fred Couples (1-1-1).

* 7:03 a.m.

Costantino Rocca (0-1)

vs. Davis Love (1-0).

* 7:15 a.m.

David Gilford (0-0-1)

vs. Brad Faxon (0-0).

* 7:27 a.m.

Colin Montgomerie (1-0-1)

vs. Ben Crenshaw (2-1).

* 7:39 a.m.

Nick Faldo (5-3-1)

vs. Curtis Strange (2-2).

* 7:51 a.m.

Sam Torrance (1-3-3)

vs. Loren Roberts (0-0).

* 8:03 a.m.

Bernhard Langer (2-2-3)

vs. Corey Pavin (1-1).

* 8:15 a.m.

Philip Walton (0-0)

vs. Jay Haas (0-1).

* 8:27 a.m.

Per-Ulrik Johansson (0-0)

vs. Phil Mickelson (0-0).

The combined record for the U.S. team in singles play is 7-7-1; the Europeans are 14-23-13. The U.S. team has won the singles in the last four Ryder Cups.