Ryder Cup: U.S. shows signs of life; is it too little, too late?

The United States has a pulse. Not much of one, to be sure, but it’s there. For the first time in the entirety of the Ryder Cup, the Americans showed up at a session ready to play. Unfortunately, the Europeans showed up too, showing enough form to blunt a full-scale American charge heading into the round of singles on Sunday.

Patrick Cantlay, the center of social media controversy for most of his afternoon round on Saturday, holed a 43-foot birdie putt on the 18th to claim a necessary point and finish the session at 3-1. The United States now trails Europe by five points, 10 1/2 to 5 1/2.

The Europeans rose up from a 10-6 deficit to win in 2012 in the Miracle at Medinah, and the Americans' hope was that the deficit after Saturday would be no more than four points. With a five-point deficit, the United States will need 8 1/2 points out of the 12 matches to hold onto the cup.

Here's how Saturday afternoon broke down:

Match 1:
USA: Collin Morikawa/Sam Burns def. EUR: Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Åberg, 4 & 3

The best performance of any American duo up to this point, although that’s a low bar to clear, and naturally it wasn’t without its drama. Burns and Morikawa, unspectacular on Friday, were flawless right up to the moment that they failed to close out the Europeans on the 13th and 14th holes. Still, the enduring image of this match will be Burns, putting his hand to his ear and daring the European crowd to boo him even louder.

Match 2:
USA: Max Homa/Brian Harman def. EUR: Tommy Fleetwood/Nicolai Hojgaard, 2 & 1

Homa established himself as the strongest American player in team play, and his pairing with Harman was the most successful overall, even though — like Morikawa and Burns — they had trouble closing out the Europeans. Both Homa and Harman seem particularly well-suited for the Ryder Cup, with the proper combination of fire and resolve that keeps them in matches and also inspires their teammates. Homa's late defiance was an instant classic:

Fleetwood lost, but still managed one of the signature shots of the entire weekend with his no-look chip:

Match 3:
EUR: Justin Rose/Robert MacIntyre def. USA: Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth, 3 & 2

The Thomas-Spieth pairing finally ran out of gas, unable to find the fairway off the tee and unable to find the bottom of the cup once they were on the green. After the Americans went up by 1 at the 7th, Rose began hammering putts home, winning four of six to effectively end the match.

Rose closed out Thomas and Spieth, the most-paired Americans in the history of the Ryder Cup, with a perfect putt that justified his captain's pick.

Match 4:
USA: Patrick Cantlay/Wyndham Clark def. EUR: Rory McIlroy/Matt Fitzpatrick

In the only match to reach the 18th hole on Saturday afternoon, McIlroy continued his unprecedented hot streak, but Patrick Cantlay came up huge. Cantlay went out for his afternoon match as a cloud of social media drama enveloped him; the rumor that he was not wearing a hat in order to protest the lack of payment for players was enough to entice the European crowd to wave their hats at him:

Despite the distraction, Cantlay holed clutch putts on Nos. 16 and 17 to force an 18th-hole showdown. And then he rolled in a long birdie putt, much to the hat-waving delight of the United States team. McIlroy and Fitzpatrick couldn't match the birdies, and the United States escaped with a 3-1 session victory.

Singles will begin at 5:30 a.m. ET on Sunday morning, and the United States will need an effort for the ages to even make the Cup competitive, much less hope for victory.