Rory McIlroy tries in vain to stem the flow of red tidal wave

On leaving the ninth green, just after Rickie Fowler had audaciously holed-out from greenside rough for a birdie which put the USA ahead, Rory McIlroy caught the eye of his friend Niall Horan, the singer, who was watching. The nod was as good as a wink, as if to say he was on the job. Things would work out okay.

That was the third straight hole that Fowler and Phil Mickelson had won to turn the match their way, one-up at the halfway mark. And, as it happened, McIlroy and his partner Andy Sullivan did halt the momentum and transform matters and, when the European pair got back to two-up standing on the 15th tee, it seemed as if they alone would rescue Darren Clarke's bacon.

Mistake! The USA twosome of Fowler and Mickelson won a hat-trick of holes for the second time in the match, from the 15th to the 17th, where Sullivan’s tee-shot plunged into the water. With every other European pairing floundering, McIlroy and Sullivan may have been the last to throw in the towel, but their quest to salvage something tangible from the debris was in vain. It ended on the 18th green, in front of the largest grandstand and with a mocking voice from the crowd suggesting to McIlroy that he “let an American take the putt.”

Just four hours earlier, McIlroy and Sully had teed off from the first to a foggy fairway and the smell of burgers wafting their way. Breakfast for some. In their following entourage were a selection of the rich and famous. Horan, whose debut single "This Town" was released on Thursday and shot straight to number one in the charts in over 50 countries. Paul O'Connell, a rugby legend. "It's like being in Disneyland for me," he quipped. Dermot Desmond, owner of Celtic, transported from the brilliant mayhem of his team's Champions League match with Manchester City to a different kind of madness.

Here, the American crowds - urged to become the 13th man on the USA team - roared their one-sided encouragement. Someone else perhaps was looking down too. The last time a USA team managed a cleansweep of the opening foursomes was at Laurel Valley in 1975 when Arnold Palmer was captain. Palmer died during the week, and The King's golf bag was poignantly positioned beside the first tee. What hope did Europe have?

McIlroy and Sullivan clearly didn’t believe in fate. Not early on at least. On the Par 3 fourth, Sullivan played a lovely bunker shot to three feet and McIlroy holed the par putt to win the hole. One up. On the Par 5 seventh, Mickelson’s tee-shot was pulled out-of-bounds into a garden where a young boy and his cavadoodle played the game of looking for the ball. Fowler put the second drive up against a fence, and Lefty had to turn a wedge around and play the shot right-handed. It was futile stuff, and the Europeans were conceded the hole.

Then, it all changed. The Americans won the seventh hole where McIlroy’s approach clipped a tree branch and ricocheted into the hazard. On the Par 3 eighth, McIlroy’s tee shot found a greenside bunker. The US fans sang to the tune of “Country Roads” ..... “walking in a sandy wonderland.” By the time they reached the ninth tee, the match was all-square. Fowler’s chip-in on the ninth completed the front nine transformation.

And, then, it turned again. McIlroy and Sullivan won the 11th, 13th and 14th to move two holes ahead and seemingly provide the only ray of light for Darren Clarke’s team. But as the sun broke through the grey clouds, it brought renewed hope to the Americans who won the 15th and 16th and then moved ahead with Sullivan’s pushed tee-shot on the 17th finding water.

"It was a match where I felt more pressure in any Ryder Cup than I felt heading into this one because of the last two years and the build up," said Mickelson, adding: "It was a lot of heart. My man (Rickie) got us through."

Fowler, savouring a first ever winning point in his third Ryder Cup, admitted: “With everything going on, me not having a point and Phil being a big part of getting this task force and getting the players a lot more involved and getting everyone on the same page, to Arnie passing and him being a huge part of this week, this is big for us this morning.”

Clarke looked to the skies and hoped that things would turn back his way. "There's a long way to go," he said. His opposite number, Davis Love III, was chirpier. "It's been an emotional trip for this team the way the picks went down. Obviously Arnold's passing was a shock for both teams at the start of the week, just little things that made this team bond together really well. From top to bottom, all 18 of us have really come together, supported each other."