Europe won the first five singles matches against the USA at Medinah on Sunday to wipe out their overnight deficit.
Rose: Sinks Mickelson with superb finish
Trailing 6-10, Luke Donald was first out for the Europeans, dressed in the colours of the late Seve Ballesteros, and he gave his team the perfect start when he bested Masters champion Bubba Watson 2&1.
Donald was 4up with five holes to play, but then lost two of the next three and had to wait until the 17th where a brilliant bunker shot landed inches from the hole to secure his par and the victory. Watson's drive was off target and he could do no better than a bogey.
"It was a big honour for me that Ollie had enough trust in me to go out and get that first point," Donald said. "That means a lot and I did what I had to do.
"It certainly helped having some local support. It wasn't totally going Bubba's way - I felt a lot of love from the crowd."
Ian Poulter then made his Ryder Cup experience count as he finished a 2up winner over rookie Webb Simpson.
The Englishman only took the lead for the first time at the 17th hole and then drained a 12-foot birdie at the 18th to clinch the win.
We've got an unbelievable chance," said Poulter. "We've got a chance from somewhere we've never been before. I'm so proud of the guys who have been able to go out and secure their points."
Rory McIlroy, who dramatically arrived for his match with Keegan Bradley with only 10 minutes to spare after confusing his time zones and getting his tee time wrong, seemed to suffer no ill effects from the lack of practice
time as he won 2&1.
Back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15 proved decisive for the Northern Irishman, who had gone 3-up earlier in the match only for Bradley, one of the star performers for the USA over the first two days, to claw his way back.
Justin Rose took on Phil Mickelson, another star performer for the USA, and secured a narrow 1up victory with a superb bidie-birdie finish to give Europe its fourth point of the day, unbelievably leveling the scores and wiping
out the four point deficit they started with.
Scot Paul Lawrie was next, pulling off a comprehensive 5&3 win over FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker, but some Americans were finally making their presence felt as well.
Dustin Johnson proved too good for Belgian rookie Nicolas Colsaerts, winning 3&2, and not long after that it was the turn of Zach Johnson to give the Americans another valuable point, edging Graeme McDowell 2&1.
That meant that the US now held only a narrow one-point lead, 12-11 with five matches still out on the course, all being hotly contested.
Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia were all square heading into the final hole, while Jason Dufner seemed on course for a point, 2up with two holes to play against Peter Hanson.
Lee Westwood appeared in control of his match against Matt Kuchar, 3up with three to play, while Martin Kaymer was 1up against Steve Stricker with four holes remaining.
The final match of the day, featuring Tiger Woods and Italian Francesco Molinari, was all square through 14 holes.
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