Nick Faldo's Europe were battling on Saturday to stay on terms with the United States on the second day of the Ryder Cup, despite a dominant performance from Ian Poulter and Justin Rose.

Poulter and Rose reached the turn five up over Americans Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell in the first foursomes match of the day.

But the United States, which went into Saturday's matches with a 5.5 to 2.5 lead over the three-time defending champions, were three up in two other matches, while Miguel Angel Jimenez and Graeme McDowell were clinging to a one up lead over Justin Leonard and Hunter Mahan in a match that could prove pivotal.

Poulter and Rose appeared well on the way to avenging their Friday foursomes loss to Cink and Campbell, when they were disappointed to let slip a three up lead to lose at the 18th.

Rose and Poulter had teamed again for a victory in the afternoon fourball, and won the first two holes Saturday morning to jump to a quick lead in the first match of the day.

Poulter sank a seven foot birdie putt at the fourth to put the Europeans three up, and Rose made a four-footer to win the next.

They went five up at the par-five seventh, where Cink hit his approach shot into the water."

Poulter, a controversial wildcard pick by Faldo ahead of popular Ulsterman Darren Clarke, was justifying his captain's faith.

But European hopes of gaining ground were dimmed by strong play from two US duos — Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim and Jim Furyk and Kenny Perry.

Elder statesman Mickelson and rookie Kim had teamed up to earn 1.5 points on Friday, and were four up on Henrik Stenson and Oliver Wilson through six holes.

Furyk and Perry, who halved their foursomes with Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood on Friday, were four up on Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson through five.

Faldo defended his decision to rest Garcia and Westwood on Saturday morning — a first in their Ryder Cup careers.

"Sergio was tired. He was on antibiotics last week and he was shot by yesterday lunch-time," Faldo said. "Lee has whopping great blisters on his feet from his new shoes.

"This week is a gruelling week on the body. Sergio wanted to be rested. Lee definitely didn't, but I wanted him to be. We still have 20 points to play for."

Despite the euphoria of seizing a first-day lead in the biennial trans-Atlantic tussle for the first time since 1995, US captain Paul Azinger was cautious heading into the second day.

"Well, clearly we haven't led in a long time, so we're real happy about that," Azinger said.

"We also know how good Europe is, so we're just going to try to get a nice rest and go out and play well tomorrow.

"We're in a happy spot. I mean, it's better than it being the other way, that's for sure. But like I said, we're not even to the halfway point yet.

"It's not a sprint. It's a marathon."

The United States are trying to wrest the Cup from Europe's grasp for the first time in three editions.

The United States lead in overall wins since the first competition in 1927 by 24-10 with two ties, but Europe have won five of the last six.

The first day performance was an enormous fillip for the hosts, who were underdogs on US soil for the first time.

Azinger decided not to mess with success in Saturday's foursomes, sending out the same teams he fielded on Friday morning.

And he wasn't interested in second-guessing Faldo's unexpected lineup.

"I'm not going to justify why Nick Faldo does what he does," Azinger said.

"I'm sure he's confident in the guys he put out there, and the way I look at the teams they put out there, they look pretty strong to me."

AFP

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