Before teeing off for his Friday morning fourball match, Rory McIlroy played to the European crowd at Le Golf National. He started a rousing 'Thunder Clap' in the massive grandstand behind the first tee and grinned before smashing his opening shot down the fairway.

That was the Northern Irishman's final smile of the morning.

McIlroy was the only player in the fourball matches not to card a birdie, he and his playing partner, Thorbjørn Olesen, the first to concede a point as they went down 4 and 2 to Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.

Then, as sure as the clock switched from am to pm, McIlroy played his part in an afternoon charge to embarrass the United States. Europe swept the afternoon foursomes and flipped a 3-1 American lead to a 5-3 advantage for the home team.

McIlroy, who paired with Ryder Cup icon Ian Poulter for foursomes, finally drained his first birdie of the day on the sixth hole to reduce Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson's lead to 1up, before winning the next three holes with pars as the American pairing fell apart.

All of a sudden, the USA had a Rory problem complete with fist pumps and crowd-shushing. And day one, which had looked so promising for Jim Furyk's side just two hours before, was well on its way to being lost.

McIlroy, like he did with the morning clap, injected life into a crowd that was shellshocked early. Moans and groans from around the course reverted back to chants of 'Eu-rope, Eu-rope' and 'Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole!'

Though those fans covered from hat to shoe in blue and gold eventually had to make their way to the exits, nobody believes their enthusiasm will vanish before Saturday morning.

Worryingly for the USA, McIlroy is now likely to have a spring in his step.