Finally, after a frenetic afternoon in a febrile New York, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry felt the love as they celebrated earning a point which edged Europe closer to a notable Ryder Cup away win.

And it was down to the pair largely keeping calm in the face of American abuse, rarely rising to the bait and, ultimately, letting their golf do the talking.

McIlroy and Lowry received crude barbs which crossed the line at Bethpage – related to romantic relationships and their appearance – as well as the home fans ignoring golfing etiquette by shouting out as they were about to hit their ball.

Lowry had to be restrained from confronting a fan on the 10th tee. McIlroy, who was forced to back away from shots, described the whole experience as a “really challenging day”.

“What I consider crossing the line is personal insults and making sounds when they are trying to hit on their backswings or very close to when they are trying to go into their routines,” said European captain Luke Donald.

“That did happen a little bit. It’s happened at other Ryder Cups, too.

“It’s something we prepared for and I can see how well [McIlroy and Lowry] have dealt with it.”

In the face of adversity, the close friends tamed the Bethpage bear pit with a vital fourballs win, setting Europe on the path to a commanding 11½-4½ lead going into Sunday’s 12 singles – 14½ is the magic number for victory.

Sealing victory on the 18th green allowed McIlroy and Lowry to finally cut loose emotionally, grabbing each other tightly in a vice-like grip before demonstratively expressing their delight.

Instead of hostility, they could only hear the sound of European fans sweetly serenading them.

“We knew what we were going to get coming here,” said Lowry.

“It was a very tough day. Being out with Rory doesn’t make it any easier. I think he’s getting the brunt of it.

“But, look, we dealt with it very well.”

The continued abuse overshadowed one of Europe’s most outstanding days on American soil as they moved within three points of a first away victory since 2012.

There were a number of unsavoury exchanges with world number two McIlroy receiving the majority of the stick.

It started early from an unexpected source. A Bethpage MC joined in with an expletive-led abusive chant about the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland as she warmed up the crowd before the opening tee-shot at 7:10am local time.

McIlroy grinned as he was told where to go by hundreds of home fans, blowing them kisses in response.

But the exchange set the tone of the day. McIlroy lost his cool towards the end of his morning foursomes win alongside Lowry, swearing at American fans during a heated moment on the 16th fairway.

With some members of the crowd fuelled by all-day drinking, things became more heated in the afternoon fourballs.

The atmosphere simmered over the opening few holes before becoming a tinderbox on the par-five fourth green.

McIlroy backed off a putt for an eagle three after a shout disrupted his concentration. He missed his effort but Lowry holed his chance – and then erupted with a passionate and pointed celebration towards the offender.

When Lowry stuck away another putt for a birdie on the fifth, he let rip with another vocal celebration. Only his dad Brendan, watching from the side, shouted louder.

Things ignited again on the sixth green when McIlroy backed off another putt. “Can’t take it, Rory?'” bawled one New Yorker.

A crowd in a city known for its brash and harsh sports fans clearly felt this was all fair game.

By this stage, the exasperated European pair – as well as vice-captain Eduardo Molinari – were pointing out offenders to the police officers, who had visibly moved in tighter in a bid to calm the mood.

American opponents Justin Thomas and Cameron Young sensibly appealed for calm, but also stoked emotions with wild celebrations when they won holes seven and nine to leave a tense match all square again.

Messages warning fans of a zero tolerance approach to abusive shouting flashed up on huge screens across the course, saying they would “continue to closely monitor fan behaviour and take appropriate action”.

Shortly after Lowry lunged towards the fan on the 10th tee, one of these reminders was booed by the American fans around the 11th green.

The PGA of America, who organise the Ryder Cup, had already beefed up security around all four matches by this point and the sight of police officers trailing the players was a clear warning sign of the threat they faced.

At this point, an attritional match – which had quality but saw more grind – remained deadlocked.

Finally McIlroy landed a hot putt on the 14th, earning a birdie which put Europe into a lead they would not relinquish.

By the time they had navigated themselves to the 18th, thicker clouds gathered over Bethpage. The metaphor was clear.

Moods darkened to the point where a fist fight broke out between two spectators in the grandstand behind the final green.

Police quickly moved in and kicked out the offenders. Officers told BBC Sport that no arrests had been made over the course of a fiery day.

“I’m going to sleep well tonight,” said McIlroy on the 18th green.

With Bethpage Black turning to Bethpage Blue, Sunday could be a short day for the Europeans.

The comparisons have been inescapable.

Scottie Scheffler’s dominance at the top of the men’s game – insurmountable as the world number one, ruthless wins at the majors and cleaning up on the PGA Tour – have seen parallels drawn with Tiger Woods.

At Bethpage, another similarity between the two American superstars continues to emerge: struggling in Ryder Cup pairings.

Scheffler followed up back-to-back defeats in Friday’s foursomes and fourballs with the same again on Saturday.

The 29-year-old has now been beaten in all four of his matches in the alternate shot format – winning only six of 59 holes he has played.

He also joins the late Peter Alliss as only the second player to lose a match in each of the first four sessions of a Ryder Cup – and the first American.

Englishman Alliss, who later found fame as a broadcaster, lost four straight sessions at Houston in 1967 at a time when the Ryder Cup was played over six.

“His foursome play is just atrocious and there’s really no explanation because you see the guy winning tournament after tournament after tournament,” American writer Alex Miceli told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“There seems to be no question that he will finally figure it out – but here we are in 2025 and he still hasn’t figured it out.”

Scheffler did not play foursomes on his Ryder Cup debut in 2021 but suffered two heavy defeats in 2023.

Scheffler and Sam Burns lost 4&3 to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton on Friday in Rome, before he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9&7 mauling by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg on the Saturday – which left Scheffler in tears.

Consecutive defeats at Bethpage means American world number ones have lost seven straight Ryder Cup foursomes matches – Scheffler following Woods in 2010 and Dustin Johnson in 2018.

Europe have regularly looked to a talismanic figure – starting with Seve Ballesteros in the 1980s through to Rory McIlroy in the present day – to drive their Ryder Cup bid.

The United States have never been able to find such a leader – not even Woods.

The 15-time major champion elevated golf to a new stratosphere in the late 1990s and early 2000s, meaning he still remains the game’s pre-eminent superstar.

But curiously Woods featured on just one victorious Ryder Cup team and won only 39% of his matches.

In foursomes, he won only four of 14 matches, losing nine.

Why? One theory is Woods – and now Scheffler – are unable to transfer their single-mindedness into a format where they are reliant on their playing partner.

Woods was seen as a lone wolf in his pomp. In the singles, he won four and lost two of his six matches.

While Scheffler is seemingly more comfortable in the team setting, the Texan has also performed better when concentrating on his own business.

He has not lost in either of his two singles matches so far, beating Rahm as an unheralded rookie in the 2021 win at Whistling Straits before earning a half against the Spaniard in Rome.

He will get the chance to continue that record against McIlroy in Sunday’s singles at Bethpage.

“I’d like to think that I’m not difficult to pair with people,” said Scheffler in his pre-tournament news conference.

“I’ve had different partners over the years and have had some success. I would definitely not put myself in that category.”

Another hypothesis behind Woods and Scheffler’s foursomes struggles is their team-mates being unable to cope under the weight of expectation.

Four-time major winner Scheffler, always keen to underline his bloke-next-door persona, has less of an intimidating aura as Woods.

But he does possess the same lofty standards where his golf game is concerned.

However, since 1999, the top-ranked player in the Ryder Cup field has won just 36% of their matches.

“They put a lot of pressure on themselves and as much as Scheffler says he doesn’t think about it, I think that’s garbage and he thinks about all of it,” added Miceli.

“Tiger didn’t care so much [about that] but Scottie is a different kind of individual.

“He thinks he needs to lead but doesn’t want to be seen leading. It’s a huge conundrum for him, I think.”

Of course, Scheffler is not solely responsible for the defeats.

Foursomes partner Russell Henley did not play well in Friday’s 4&3 beating by European pair Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick.

And, despite taking Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre to the 18th green on Saturday, Scheffler and Henley still ended up losing.

Henley is third in a world ranking system skewed by the omission of LIV golfers, but has looked shaky during his Ryder Cup debut.

Scheffler – whose game is based on consistent driving and metronomic irons – was unable to dig them out of trouble on either occasion.

He had no joy in the fourballs on Friday alongside debutant JJ Spaun as they were beaten 3&2 by Rahm and Sepp Straka.

In Saturday’s fourballs, he partnered Bryson DeChambeau but the USA’s most celebrated pairing could not keep up with an inspired Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood.

Scheffler said he and DeChambeau “played some good stuff” in a “tough match up” against Rose and Fleetwood.

“They made a ton of putts and really a tip of a cap to them – they played better than we did,” he said.

Scheffler added that “anything can happen” and an American win on Sunday would “make for a great comeback story”.

With Europe only requiring three points to win the Ryder Cup, the inquest is probably only just beginning for the world number one.