U.S. takes 6-4 lead over Europe at Ryder Cup

A surprising 6-4 lead for the United States team at mid-afternoon Saturday looked less rosy a few hours later, as golf’s Ryder Cup competition headed toward hoped-for dramatics on Sunday.

Because of the deluge of rain Friday that caused a seven-hour delay at Celtic Manor Resort’s Twenty Ten course, Saturday turned into a patchwork, non-stop march of foursome and four-ball teams. After the completion of a session of six foursome matches (where two-man teams alternate shots), the U.S. and captain Corey Pavin were where they weren’t supposed to be -- ahead.

This European team was favored on several counts. One of those was the number of quality players it had in the world rankings. Another was that a U.S. team hadn’t won in Europe in this competition since 1993.

So when Stewart Cink turned in some late-round heroics, allowing him and partner Matt Kuchar team to overtake Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy to post that 6-4 lead, there were many furrowed brows among the nearly 50,000 fans who braved the muddy paths to cheer on their players.

But several hours later, as the day turned to twilight and the six new pairings on the course were called home because of darkness, things looked brighter for Europe. On the course were two foursomes and four four-ball (best ball) teams. The leaders in all six matches were the Europeans. Were that to hold up, that 6-4 would become a 10-6 deficit going into the 12 singles matches.

The U.S. can retain the Ryder Cup it won at Valderrama in Louisville, Ky., in 2008 with 14 points. Europe needs 14 œ to reclaim the trophy.

So golf fans in the U.S. could awaken Sunday to several circumstances, and turn their TV sets on to happy moments for either team.

If it is the U.S. team on top, two players will be most responsible.

Cink, the 2009 British Open champion, made three shots near the end of his team’s victory that were perfect examples of the twists and turns of match-play golf.

After hitting a weekend-golfer sand trap shot on No. 15 that flew over the green and into the deep rough on the other side, Cink hit a perfect iron in to the 16th green, where Kuchar made the putt, McDowell missed and the match was back to even.

Then McDowell hit a near-perfect iron to about five feet on the par-three 17th and things looked good for Europe -- that is, until Cink turned the tables on them and sank a 30-footer for birdie. That so unnerved the young McIlroy that he missed the putt that would have halved the hole and then butchered any chance of Europe halving the match when he dumped an iron shot into a greenside trap on No. 18.

“The look and action of everything and everybody around the green on 17 said it all,” said Cink. “That’s match-play golf. What happened on 17 was a match-play poison dart.”

Kuchar added, “When I was matched with him, I called him a horse. Now, I’d make that a thoroughbred.”

The other U.S. thoroughbred was Steve Stricker, who teamed with Tiger Woods for their second straight match win and did most of the heavy lifting.

Woods, asked about his partner, especially his putting, said, “It’s fun to watch. All you have to do is put him in position, and he’s got that go-in look.”

Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan also won, Johnson clinching it with a long putt on No. 17 to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez and Peter Hanson. Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler halved their match with Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer and the European teams of Padraig Harrington and Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter and Luke Donald got their team’s two winning points.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com