Justin Thomas was hopeful his fourball win with Jordan Spieth could prove a turning point for Team USA at the Ryder Cup on Saturday.

Europe's lead at Le Golf National stood at 8-3 after the first three matches of the second day, with the Americans reeling, but Thomas and Spieth combined to defeat Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm 2 and 1.

While there was still plenty of work left to do heading into the afternoon's foursomes, Thomas grasped the significance of ending a wretched run of eight straight points for Europe.

"We knew how big this point was and we're not even halfway done with this golf tournament," Thomas said. "This was a big point and hopefully it gets it turned around for us."

Thomas found his game on the back nine, with a winning putt on 17 after a clutch birdie to halve the 14th, following the two holes won by Spieth on the front to keep things all square before a 12th-hole win.

"We both were playing well," Thomas added. "We did a great job [Friday] morning and [Saturday] of just ham-and-egging the ball. When one person was out in a hole, the other person would pick him up."