Americans close the gap in morning matches at the Ryder Cup

As the 2014 Ryder Cup approached it’s second day -- Saturday -- U.S. Captain Tom Watson borrowed an analogy from college football.

“It’s only the second quarter,” he said.

Watson was referring to the fact that his team had been pounded by the Europeans on Friday afternoon, falling behind 5-3. He wanted his players to keep their heads up -- and they did.

With a strong performance in fourball matches, the Americans closed the gap to 6½-5½.

Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler led the charge. They were aided by rookies Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Jimmy Walker, all of whom had their second promising day in Scotland.

Fowler and Walker played in the most exciting match of the morning, a back-and-forth affair that ended with a half-point against Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter.

Europe’s only victory came in spectacular fashion. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, the strongest pairing at this competition, recorded the best performance in Ryder Cup history with birdies on the last 10 holes. That was enough to outpace the almost-as-brilliant Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar, 3 and 2.

“What a match,” Rose said. “It was a privilege to be part of that.”

For the afternoon session, Watson decided to stick with three of his morning pairs and keep Phil Mickelson on the bench.