Reigning champion Europe has taken a 10 - 6 lead over the United States at the end of the second day of the Ryder Cup team golf competition at the K-Club in Straffan, Ireland.
In the afternoon foursome matches (or alternate shot matches, where the partners take turns hitting one ball), Paul Casey of England fired a hole-in-one, just the fifth in Ryder Cup history, as he teamed with countryman David Howell to close out Americans Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson, five and four.
Spain's Sergio Garcia teamed with England's Luke Donald to beat Americans Phil Mickelson and David Toms, two and one. Colin Montgomerie of Scotland and England's Lee Westwood combined to halve their match with Chad Campbell and Vaughn Taylor. But Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk scored a point for the United States with a three and two win over Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley of Ireland.
In the morning four-ball matches, the European team also won two, lost one and split the other. Twelve singles matches involving all 24 players are scheduled for Sunday. The Europeans just need to get four of the available 12 points to retain the Cup.
In four-ball, each partner plays his own ball with the best score counting for the pair. The lowest score on a hole earns the pair one point.
Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal beat the American team of Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco three and two. The United States team of world number one Tiger Woods and number three Jim Furyk lost their second straight match, falling three and two to Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood of England.
In other matches, the American team of Scott Verplank and Zach Johnson topped Henrik Stenson of Sweden and Padraig Harrington of Ireland two and one, while Stewart Cink and J.J. Henry of the United States halved their match against England's Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson of Sweden.