GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — Europe has a five-point lead and history on its side in the Ryder Cup. No team has ever come back from that large a deficit going into the singles session. The Americans have not won on the road before a flag-waving crowd in 30 years.

The tension Saturday evening told a different story.

Patrick Cantlay, with no cap but plenty of mettle, birdied his last three holes to hand Rory McIlroy his first loss at Marco Simone. The last putt was 45 feet, and it fired up the rest of the American team.

The moment brought a spark to a Ryder Cup that otherwise has been ruled by the Europeans.

They won the foursomes session in the morning handily, backed by the most lopsided match in Ryder Cup history that brought Scottie Scheffler to tears. And even with Cantlay’s gutsy finish, Europe still had a 10½-5½ lead going into the 12 singles Sunday.

Cantlay gave them hope.

“If there’s any tournament in the world that’s about momentum, it’s this one,” Johnson said.

Momentum still has a monster mountain to climb at Marco Simone.

“Listen, we are in a great position, five points ahead going into the singles at home,” European captain Luke Donald said. “I like where we are. I like the feelings in the locker room.”

Scheffler will face Jon Rahm in the opening match Sunday, a rematch of Whistling Straits in 2021 when Scheffler started with four straight birdies and won easily. They have been the two players who have exchanged turns at No. 1 in the world this year.

Europe needs to win only four points from those 12 matches to regain the cup. U.S. captain Zach Johnson wasn’t about to reprise Ben Crenshaw’s famous, “I have a good feeling about this” speech on the eve of the final day at Brookline in 1999 when the Americans rallied from a 10-6 deficit.