The Stars and Stripes was flying high over Medinah with the American team spanking Europe in the morning Foursomes on day two of the 39th Ryder Cup.

The big guns of Europe were again silenced with Team USA racing to an 8 points to 4 points lead heading to the afternoon Fourballs.

Ian Poulter teamed with Justin Rose to deliver Europe its only point in the Saturday morning Foursomes. (Photo – Eoin Clarke/www.golffile.ie)

Most disappointing was the efforts of the U.S. Open winning duo of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell who lost their match 1 down to the Americans Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker.

However setting the tone for a disappointing third session for Europe was the embarassing 7 & 6 defeat handed out to Lee Westwood and Luke Donald by their still unbeaten USA rivals Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson.

It was the largest defeat handed out to Westwood ever in his 13 Foursome encounters since making his Ryder Cup debut in 1997 at Valderrama.

Donald’s loss was also his biggest Ryder Cup humiliation since losing 5 & 3 to Chad Campbell in the 2004 Singles at Oakland Hills.

Donald responded to the loss saying:  “Well, tough, yeah.  Phil is a good partner to Keegan.  He’s obviously been a rock star this week, and they did nothing wrong.  They played extremely solid.

“We didn’t quite have our games this morning, and we just couldn’t quite get the momentum on our side.

“We just kept pushing and trying as hard as we could, but they kept coming up with great shots.”

And Westwood remarked:  “They got a bit of momentum from yesterday, and they started off quick today.

“They were something like 6‑under through 10.  We didn’t play well enough and put enough pressure on them, but that’s what in golf is normally going to win.”