Europe have claimed the last two matches of the second day of the Ryder Cup in a dramatic late recovery at Medinah Country Club. Ian Poulter sank five birdies in a row to complete a one-up victory with Rory McIlroy over Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson in Saturday afternoon&aposs fourth fourball match to take Europe within four points of the USA, who lead 10-6 going into the final day in Illinois. Poulter&aposs putt to win the final match carried on the momentum generated by Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia, after they held on for a one-up victory over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. USA entered the afternoon session 8-4 ahead and built a six-point margin after the opening two matches to continue their dominance of the second day of the 2012 Ryder Cup. Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson blitzed Justin Rose and Francesco Molinari 5 and 4 with the European pair unable to win a hole, while Matt Kuchar scored three birdies as he combined with Dustin Johnson to win their match one-up over Nicolas Colsaerts and Paul Lawrie. But Europe finished the day brilliantly with McIlroy, Poulter, Donald and Garcia digging deep to get their team back in the contest. Donald and Garcia were four up after nine holes, with the Englishman winning three holes and the Spaniard claiming two. The back nine belonged to Woods, however, with the 36-year-old winning the 10th, 13th and 16th holes to put USA within one of Donald and Garcia with a hole to play. Garcia had the chance to win the match with a birdie putt on the 18th hole and missed but Stricker&aposs putt for birdie lipped out and Europe moved to 10-5 behind the USA. That left Dufner and Johnson versus Poulter and McIlroy to play the final hole. The hosts were on track to halve the match when Dufner&aposs second shot landed just three feet from the pin and the 35-year-old made no mistake with his putt. But match-play specialist Poulter, who had birdied the preceding four holes to drag Europe ahead, made it 11 wins in the 14 Ryder Cup matches of his career with a mid-range birdie under immense pressure. Poulter and McIlroy entered the back nine two holes behind their opponents but won three of the last six to take Europe to within four matches of the USA with just Sunday&aposs singles remaining.
Author: Omnisport