Europe can win - just 5 points are needed to retain the Ryder Cup

Valderrama, Spain, 27th September - Europe are playing like a team possessed and have taken a lead of 5 points with three foursome matches suspended by darkness and 12 singles matches still to play. The team now need just 5 more points to retain the Ryder Cup and 5½ points for an outright win.

The inspiration for the onslaught has come from Seve Ballesteros whose personality has been stamped over the Ryder Cup all week. His message to the team tonight is to "remain focused and concentrate".

Whenever a player looked to be in trouble Seve would appear from nowhere to give support and when they were getting ahead he was there giving more encouragement..

The team has responded to the magic of Ballesteros and is fighting a most incredible battle against the Americans.

The US captain, Tom Kite, said about the European lead. "We're going to have to play like crazy, but it's not insurmountable.'' But he knows that only four times in the event's 70-year history has a team won the Cup after trailing going into the singles. It has happened in each of the past two Ryder Cups. The Europeans trailed 9-7 two years ago at Oak Hill, then earned 7 ½ points in singles to win 14 ½-13 /½. In 1993, the U.S. trailed 8 ½-7 ½ before rallying to get 7 ½ points in singles to win 15-13. No team has come from more than two points down to win.

After sharing six points on Friday, rain again delayed the start for nearly two hours for the second day but that didn't stop Europe moving closer to retaining the Cup winning five out of the seven completed matches with the Americans managing only two halves.

Nick Faldo, making his record 11th appearance in the Ryder Cup paired with Lee Westwood defeated Open Champion Justin Leonard and Jeff Maggert by 3 & 2. The point gained in this match gave Faldo a new record for the most number of points accumulated in the Ryder Cup with 24, breaking Billy Casper's record of 23½ points.

Westwood needed to hole a 6 foot putt on the 16th green in the match that had been held overnight because of darkness. The ball went straight into the hole and it meant that Europe were one point ahead and when Jesper Parnevik and Ignacio Garrido halved their held over match with Tom Lehman and Phil Mickelson the European team went into the fourball matches leading 4½ to 3½.

The big leap came when Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke defeated Fred Couples and Davis Love III 1 up and Ian Woosnam and Thomas Bjorn won by 2 & 1 over Leonard and Brad Faxon. The gap widened when Faldo, again teamed with Lee Westwood, were victorious for the second time in the day defeating Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara by 2 & 1.

A complete whitewash in the fourball matches was only averted when Tom Lehman and Phil Mickelson halved with Jose Maria Olazabal and Ignacio Garrido.

The measure of just how well Ballesteros has inspired his team can be judged by the standard of golf being played by the Americans.

Woods and O'Meara were 6-under par when they were defeated by Faldo and Westwood 2 & 1. Justin Leonard made five birdies and an eagle and still lost to Woosnam and Bjorn. Couples and Love were 5-under and Lehman and Mickelson were also 5-under par.

At one point, Leonard made four birdies and an eagle in seven holes, yet he and Faxon gained no ground against Woosnam and Bjorn. Woods and O'Meara made five birdies in eight holes against Faldo and Westwood and actually lost ground.

The only afternoon foursome match to be concluded on Saturday had Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer defeating Lee Janzen and Jim Furyk 1-up.

Of the matches still on the course and to be completed Sunday morning before the singles start, Faldo and Westwood trailed Scott Hoch and Jeff Maggert 1-up over14 holes; Parnevik and Garrido were even with Woods and Leonard over seven holes; and Olazábal and Costantino Rocca were 1-up against Love and Couples over seven holes.

Lehman is the most consistent of the Americans and appears confident that the United States will battle back in Sunday's 12 singles matches.

"So far, it seems not one guy has played well from start to finish (on Europe)," said Lehman. "But they've ham-and-egged it. Basically, I think we can take those guys. I like our chances tomorrow."

For that to happen the Americans will need to play a record-breaking Sunday never before witnessed in the Ryder Cup.