RORY McIlroy finished the job in style as he and McDowell beat Johnson and Hunter with a birdie two sealing a vital win and levelling the overall score at 6-6.
Three up overnight, the Northern Irish pair suffered an immediate body blow when Johnson holed from 30 feet across the eighth green with the first shot of the day.
They hit back with a birdie on the 11th to restore their cushion, only for Johnson to hole another 30ft birdie putt on the 16th to keep the match alive.
"This session is huge,’’ McIlroy said.
"If we can go 8-8 into the singles that's huge compared to 9-7 down, and after going out 6-4 behind if we can get any sort of lead it would be massive.’’ As yet more rain fell on the sodden Twenty Ten course, the US went ahead in a match for the first time since Kuchar and Cink won the opening hole yesterday, the same pairing edging one ahead of the Molinari brothers on the 13th.
Harrington and Fisher were gifted the 14th to go two ahead with three to play, while Hanson and Jimenez were still clinging to a narrow lead over Watson and Overton.
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