Europe close in on Ryder Cup victory

Oct 4, 2010, 13:10 GMT

Newport, Wales - Europe edged closer Monday to an 11th Ryder Cup victory over the United States in a tense final day as the singles matches unfolded.

After three days of rain and wind on the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, the sun was out as Europe went into the 12 concluding singles matches leading by three points and needing just five to win the competition, which sees a 12-man European team take on their US counterparts.

The outlook was good for Europe in the early morning as they led in eight of the 12 matches, but the Americans came back strongly and had managed to take back some of the initiative.

In the first two matches out on the course Steve Stricker won 2&1 against Lee Westwood, while Dustin Johnson clinched a 6&4 victory against Martin Kaymer.

Ian Poulter then claimed a point for Europe with a 5&4 victory over Matt Kuchar to bring the score to 10-and-half to eight-and-a-half for the Europeans.

Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell were leading for Europe against Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan, while Rory McIlroy and Stuart Cink were all square at the 16th.

Phil Mickelson was a strong hope for the Americans, 2-up against Peter Hanson.

The world number one, Tiger Woods, was surprisingly down to Italian rookie Francesco Molinari, who managed three birdies in his opening seven holes to be 1-up through 7.

It is the first time in the history of the competition that play is taking place on Monday and was made necessary after heavy rainfalls on the first three days of competition played havoc with the scheduling.

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