Actually, the are threatening to leave Americans holding the bag.

Through two days that have been filled with outstanding shots and numerous momentum changes at The Country Club, the European team again is proving that the logic saying they are huge underdogs is paper thin.

Led by the team of Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik, who are 3-0-1, and aided by Colin Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie, who are 3-1-0, the Europeans have put the Americans in a nearly impossible position, leading 10-6. No team has ever rallied from such a deficit heading into the final day.

Once again, the Americans, who have lost the past two Ryder Cups, got little help from the players expected to lead them.

Tiger Woods and David Duval -- the top-two ranked players in the world -- delivered just 1½ points one day after being shutout. Duval, paired with Love in afternoon four-ball, settled for a disappointing halve in a match against Parnevik and Garcia.

"They play well in this format," Love said. "For some reason they raise the level of play for this tournament. Our team seems to come in and not play to their capabilities."

History suggests nobody should be surprised to see the United States trailing. The U.S. team has led after the 16 team matches just once in the past eight Ryder Cups.

But this year was supposed to be different. The Americans have 10 of the top 17 players in the World Ranking, including Woods and Duval, the only U.S. rookie. Meanwhile, the Europeans do not have nearly the same firepower, with seven first-timers on the team.

It hardly mattered. James left three of his rookies -- Jean Van de Velde, Andrew Coltart and Jarmo Sandelin -- on the bench both days. The other four rookies have acquitted themselves just fine.

"We knew we needed as big of a lead as possible," said Parnevik, who delivered a clutch chip-in for par that helped save another tie in the afternoon. "We are playing very good golf and had luck on our side. The adrenaline is flowing everywhere, and you can see that. The atmosphere is unbelievable. . . It was a very important afternoon to get those points because it will be hard (Sunday)."

The Americans could only shake their heads.

"I've hit it beautifully all week and I've putted well too," said Woods, who is now 2-6-1 overall in two Ryder Cup appearances. "Unfortunately, it's just not enough.

"It's frustrating when you play well and you still lose. We didn't make the putts at the key moments. We're not playing badly. I've seen them get up-and-down and make putts from everywhere. It's unfortunate we're not able to counter and put a little heat on them."

No team has ever overcome such deficit as large as the one the United States faces. In fact, only four times in Ryder Cup history has a team come back to win when trailing heading into the final day. The last occurred in 1995, when the Europeans trailed 9-7 and won seven singles matches. But none of the previous comebacks was from more than two points.

Two years ago, the Americans nearly overcame what appeared to be an insurmountable deficit. They trailed by five points, then won seven of 12 singles matches and halved two others to take eight points. But Europe's four points were enough for a 14½-13½ victory.

A similar effort is needed Sunday. And U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw would not give up.

"Singles helps us quite a bit. That's the way we play most of our golf," Crenshaw said. "Our players have enough confidence. They know what to do. We feel good about singles. I don't know what it is, but we do feel better at singles. We need to just play our game."

Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online.