United States in the driving seat

European captain Jose Maria Olazabal failed to get the desired response from his players as the United States continued to hold the upper hand on day two of the Ryder Cup at Medinah.

Olazabal's side trailed 5-3 after the first day and were thankful to a simply stunning performance from rookie Nicolas Colsaerts, who carried Lee Westwood to victory over Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, for being that close. "I'm going to make it clear to the boys that they need to step it up. They need to play better golf, simple as that," Olazabal said.

Unfortunately for Olazabal, the momentum remained firmly with the home side in this morning's foursomes as they quickly led in all four matches - with unbeaten pairing Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley again leading the way.

After beating Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald in foursomes - ending the pair's unbeaten record in the format - and Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell in fourballs, Mickelson and Bradley faced Donald and Westwood this morning and were four up after seven holes.

The other three matches were tighter affairs, but McIlroy and McDowell were two down after five to Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker, who they had beaten on the 18th yesterday, while Colsaerts and Garcia were one down after six to Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson.

In the first match out, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose were one down to Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson.

Former captain Colin Montgomerie, commentating on American television, said: "At this stage there is only one winner I'm afraid. We have got to make inroads but we are not making a good job of it."