Ryder Cup storylines after day two

Two days down with one to go at the 42nd Ryder Cup.

The Americans are certainly up against it, trailing 10-6 heading into Sunday's single matches. A huge task awaits captain Jim Furyk's group as it tries to pull off a minor miracle and prevent a sixth straight loss on European soil.

The United States needs eight points to retain the Cup while Europe is looking at 4 1/2 after winning Saturday's morning session 3-1 before splitting the afternoon contests. The Americans were the favorite on paper prior to the event, and now must live up to that distinction as Furyk will go top-heavy with his singles lineup for Sunday.

As we prepare for one more day of Ryder Cup golf, here's a look at five storylines following Saturday's play and heading into Sunday:

It's 10-6 time again

For the third time in the last four Ryder Cups, the team in the lead after two days holds a 10-6 advantage. Europe did so en route to winning the 2014 title and the U.S. held the same advantage going into Sunday in 2012.

Of course, American golf fans don't need to be reminded about what happened in 2012, otherwise known by Europeans as the "Miracle of Medinah." However, knowing a team can overcome such a deficit will give the U.S. hope. In fact, the Americans have done it before - in 1999 during the "Battle of Brookline."

It can be done. But do the Americans have what it takes to accomplish the difficult task?

Lefty's last stand

It's down to this for Phil Mickelson.

Rightfully benched for both Saturday sessions after he and Bryson DeChambeau were clobbered in Friday afternoon's foursomes by Sergio Garcia and Alex Noren, Mickelson will return the course for singles action.

In this 12th and expected final Ryder Cup, Mickelson has one more chance to prove he was worth a captain's pick by Furyk, whose decision to play him Friday afternoon could haunt the captain. Lefty is 8-5-1 in singles and will square off against 2018 Ryder Cup wonder boy Francesco Molinari, whom European captain Thomas Bjorn said is "playing on another planet" this weekend.

Europe taming the Tiger

On the heels of a remarkable comeback season highlighted by last weekend's victory at the Tour Championship, Tiger Woods might feel like he should leave France's Le Golf National with a paper bag over his head after his play thus far.

Woods is 0-3-0 and far from happy. All of his defeats have come against the super pairing of Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, and those matches haven't been close. Two of Woods' losses came with Patrick Reed as his partner while Saturday afternoon he finally got to play along side DeChambeau. However, it didn't matter.

Boasting a 4-1-2 Ryder Cup singles record, Tiger, who has shown little emotion and may be dealing with some back issues, will try to salvage something this weekend when he takes on Spaniard Jon Rahm in the day's fourth match.

Say goodbye to "Mollywood"

There's no doubt the stars of these first two days at the Ryder Cup are Molinari and Fleetwood.

Great friends off the course and strong playing partners on it, the two made Ryder Cup history by becoming the first European duo to go 4-0-0. Dubbed "Mollywood," because it's apparently still trendy to think up a combo name, they're a major reason why Europe is in position to recapture the Cup.

However, they now must do it on their own. Molinari should be favored against Mickelson, as could Fleetwood against fellow Ryder Cup rookie Tony Finau.

Based on their play thus far, it seems unlikely either is capable of folding. Remember, Molinari bested Tiger at Carnoustie to win this year's Open Championship and Fleetwood won the 2017 French Open on this same course.

The new Captain America?

Justin Thomas is making his Ryder Cup debut, and he, along with Jordan Spieth, have been one of the few bright spots for the Americans. The duo is 3-1-0 this weekend, and the sometime curt Thomas has shown the emotion and excitement golf fans stateside have been hoping to see.

With U.S. agitator Patrick Reed struggling, someone on Furyk's roster needed to step up and play the role of bad boy. Thomas would probably have been the least likely to take over the part, but showed some moxy during the Saturday morning fourballs when he taunted the pro-European crowd with a hand to ear gesture after his birdie on the 14th hole.

Thomas now must carry over his success to singles where he'll take on Rory McIlroy to kick off Sunday's play.