Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland sealed a historic 9&7 victory as Europe won the second-day foursomes session 3-1 to take a 9½-2½ lead at the 44th Ryder Cup.
The hosts entered the day on the crest of a wave and maintained their momentum as the Scandinavian duo sealed the biggest victory in an 18-hole match in Ryder Cup history against Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
Brian Harman and Max Homa then gave the U.S. Team hope with a 4&2 victory over Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka but Luke Donald's two highest-ranked stars produced yet again in the remaining two matches.
Rory McIlroy holed the crucial putt as he and Tommy Fleetwood downed Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 2&1 before Jon Rahm was a roll away from a hole-in-one on the 17th as he and Tyrrell Hatton - who had made a vital putt on the 16th - beat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele by the same score.
"It was amazing again to win the session 3-1," said European Captain Luke Donald. "We keep going forwards and I think that's the only way this team works.
"They will never underestimate the U.S. and for me it was just about getting those guys off to a great start again and they did that."
It was a fascinating session as Europe raced out into convincing leads in matches one, two and four and as the final match reached the turn, a 4-0 session win and the remarkable prospect of Donald's men winning the trophy on day two was in play.
But Homa and Harman started the back nine birdie-birdie-eagle to take control of match three and effectively end that chance, and gutsy U.S. fightbacks meant a 3-1 session win for Zach Johnson's team was all of a sudden a possibility.
As has been the theme of the week so far, however, Europe took their chances in the remaining matches and required just a point in the afternoon to leave the U.S. needing the biggest comeback in history to win the Ryder Cup.
"We have 12 points of the 28 that are gone so we have 16 left," said Johnson. "Every point is pivotal.
"My guys are ready, they're anxious, they're feisty and they're confident.
"I've seen a fair bit of golf and I am very impressed but not surprised by what the European players have done. They have played awesome golf: shots made, fairways hit, greens hit, pitches in. They have played tremendously and you just have to tip your cap."
Åberg and Hovland's victory came amid a perfect storm, with the duo producing some scintillating golf, while Scheffler and Koepka struggled to show the brilliance that has made both of them World Number Ones and Major Champions.
The U.S. Team handed Europe a head-start as they started double-bogey, bogey, double and despite errors of their own on the second and third, Hovland and Åberg were 3 UP through three.
What followed was a masterclass, with Scandinavian pair playing the next eight holes in seven under.
Åberg almost aced the fourth and the driveable fifth was halved in birdies before Hovland put an approach to eight feet at the sixth.
There then came four birdies in a row from the eighth as approaches to inside 12 feet on the eighth and tenth sandwiched a routine birdie on the ninth, and the concession was given on the 11th without a putt as the U.S. pair played their 11 holes in seven over.
Match three was ebb and flow over the front nine before Homa and Harman found another gear after the turn to get America on the board.
A Homa approach to ten feet set up a birdie on the second but Lowry returned the favour on the third before Europe made a mess of the fifth.
A poor Harman tee-shot helped Europe win the sixth but a nasty lie off the eighth brought a bogey before U.S errors on the ninth had the match Tied at the turn.
Lowry then found water off the tenth tee for the second day in a row and the U.S. got up and down for birdie on the 11th before Homa left Harman a tap-in on the 12th and ended it with a chip-in on the 16th.
McIlroy and Fleetwood were 3 UP after three as a Fleetwood 35-footer on the second was sandwiched by two U.S. bogeys.
Thomas holed from 20 feet on the fifth to pull a win from nowhere as McIlroy missed a short putt but the U.S duo made a double on the next before another clutch putt from Thomas won a scrappy eighth and brought a big celebration.
Europe made the most of the par-five ninth but the back and forth continued as they bogeyed the tenth after bunker trouble but responded with a McIlroy tee-shot to ten feet for the first eagle of the week on the driveable par-four 11th.
A Spieth putt from 21 feet on the 13th and a European bogey on the next cut the gap to one before McIlroy holed from 25 feet on the 15th and the Americans got up and down on the driveable 16th.
The back nine had been a roller coaster and while Europe had a scare when Fleetwood's initial putt ran 13 feet by on the 17th, McIlroy made the return to seal his third point of the week.
In the bottom match, a poor Schauffele tee-shot on the second helped put Europe 1 UP before Hatton holed a 24-footer on the sixth and eight-footer on the eighth to make it a three-hole lead.
The U.S. got up and down for a birdie on the par-five ninth but a Hatton pitch to seven feet on the 11th brought a European bounce-back gain.
Cantlay and Schauffele have a fearsome foursomes record, however, and Cantlay set up an eagle on the 12th with an approach to four feet before putting a tee-shot to 13 feet at the next and another approach to four feet at the 15th to get the match back to Tied.
Hatton then holed from 13 feet on the 16th as Schauffele missed from six and when Rahm put his tee-shot on the next to concession range, the World Number Six missed from three feet to end the match.
