ROME – The morning foursomes matches could not have gone worse for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, leaving the theme of the afternoon four-ball session all about survival.

The U.S. was drummed by Europe in the alternate-shot format, 4-0, in the morning and was in jeopardy of being run out of Rome before having a chance to enjoy another great meal or two.

Europe was threatening the suck the drama from this highly-anticipated biennial team competition and render the Sunday singles essentially inconsequential.

In the end, the Americans left Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on life support, losing the afternoon session 2 ½ to 1 ½, meaning they enter Saturday facing a daunting deficit of 6 ½ to 1 ½.

Worst yet, in the eight matches played on Friday, the Americans failed to win a single one of them outright.

Their 1 ½ points for the day came on three halved matches, two of which they let get away from them in the afternoon session.

Europe played al 12 of its players and not one of them lost a match.

It marked the first time in Ryder Cup history that the U.S. failed to win a full point in a match.

“Unbelievable start,’’ European captain Luke Donald said. “Historic day, but we want it to be an historic week, so the job is certainly not done.’’

U.S. captain Zach Johnson, while rattled by the result, was resolute about is team and its fight.

“They have every right to be frustrated,’’ Johnson said.  “Once we leave here, it’s done. Today’s done, and there’s more opportunity out there. “Twenty-eight percent-ish of a tournament is done, so we’ve got 72 percent left. That is a lot of opportunity, which makes for an ability to go out and show off and show the true character of this team.

“I think it’s just a matter of time,’’ Johnson went on. “I believe in these guys. This is just the start. Tip my cap to the European Team for playing great golf. Our time’s coming. I’ve got leaders on this team that are stepping forward, and these guys are ready. They are leaving it here. They are frustrated, certainly. But they are leaving it all here.’’

How does he know that?

“Because of the 12 guys in my team room,’’ Johnson said. “Every one of them is feisty. Every one of them is hungry. Every one of them plays golf for the right reasons in the Ryder Cup.’’

The Europeans will never forget No. 18 at Marco Simone on Friday.

In the morning, not one of the four matches got to the 18^th.

In the afternoon, three of the four matches reached 18 and the Europeans stole critical half points in each of the matches when it looked like they may lose full points in all three.

First, Viktor Hovland made a huge birdie putt to secure a half point. 

Then Jon Rahm made an eagle putt to win the hole and steal a half point. 

And finally, in the last match on the course, Justin Rose made a 10-foot birdie putt to win the hole and steal a point.

“This 18^th hole, in the setting sun, has done us proud,’’ Rose said after his match, in which he and Robert MacIntyre trailed 2-down with two holes to play. 

“What we did going down 18 just shows the determination, the grit, the perseverance, kind of the unity of our team,’’ Donald said. “They never gave up, and they kept pushing till the very end. And to hole putts like Viktor did, like Jon did, and of course Rosey, right at the end, that is huge. It really looked like 3-1 at one point for the U.S. If (the U.S. gets to) 5-3, they are well back in the game. But to win that session, when it looked like 3-1, is an unbelievable feat by my guys.

“Ryder Cups are always full of amazing roller coasters and swings throughout the day,’’ Donald went on. “Obviously, this morning felt a lot more comfortable than this afternoon. We got off to a fast start this morning. To win 4-0 was very special. But this afternoon the U.S. for a while there were holing putts. They were turning around matches. They fought back. We knew they would.’’

Unlike in the morning, the U.S. stayed close in all of the matches but one _ the Rory McIlroy-Matt Fitzpatrick pairing that ambushed Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa, 5-and-3.

The two killer matches for the U.S. were Max Homa and Wyndham Clark losing a 2-up lead with two holes to play to be halved by Rose and MacIntyre in the last match off the golf course, and Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth halving their match against Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton despite leading 2-up with five holes to play.

With Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, who didn’t play the morning session, taking a 2-up lead through eight holes, Rahm, playing with rookie Nicolai Hojgaard, tied the match with an eagle chip-in on the 16^th hole that sent the home crowd into a state of delirium.

Rahm, who already had three chip-ins on the day, played the hero for Europe again, making that eagle putt to win the 18^th and tie the match, taking a half point from the desperate Americans.

The putt, which hit the hole with such pace the ball bounced up in the air and into the hole, gave Europe a commanding 6-1 lead at the time.

That was a dagger for the Americans as Rahm, on the last three holes of the match, went eagle, par, eagle.

The third match out in the afternoon pitted Homa and Clark, two U.S. Ryder Cup rookies, against Rose and MacIntyre. Homa and Clark, both members at exclusive Whisper Rock in North Scottsdale, Ariz., where they practiced together last week, controlled most of the match but failed to put it away in the end.

Homa was on the wrong side of a lopsided loss alongside Brian Harman in the morning.

For Clark, the reigning U.S. Open champion, it was his first career Ryder Cup match.

He failed to make a hole-tying par putt on the 15^th, but drove the green on the par-4 16^thand won the hole with birdie to go back to 2-up with two to play.

The Whisper Rock boys then lost the 17^th hole, heading to 18 clinging to a 1-up lead and lost 18 thanks to that 10-foot birdie putt from Rose.