NEWPORT, Wales — The Ryder Cup is usually decided on a Sunday, and this one had all the trappings of a European victory: the fist-pumping performance by the home guys, a raucous crowd cheering them on, the scoreboard awash in blue when one last putt dropped in the cup.

The only thing missing was the champagne.

Unless the Americans can come up with a Brookline-like performance on this side of the Atlantic, that's just a formality. The home team will be popping the corks on Monday.

During one of the greatest days in European golf history, the challengers routed Tiger Woods, handed Phil Mickelson a record he'd rather not have and got one hand firmly on the gold chalice that's been in U.S. hands the last two years.

"I knew the Americans would come out strong," captain Colin Montgomerie said. "We had to come out stronger."

They finished well, too.

Monty's boys turned a two-point deficit into a three-point lead, a commanding position even with a dozen singles matches still to go. The U.S. has overcome an even greater deficit before — at Brookline in 1999, the margin was 10-6 before a historic final-day comeback — but the Americans have never rallied from this far down as the visiting team.

"Is Europe ahead? Absolutely. It's nice to have a cushion," U.S. captain Corey Pavin said. "Can you come back from it? Absolutely."

If nothing else, Pavin could attempt to rally his players by pointing out that it's already been a Ryder Cup like no other, thrown into chaos by one dark cloud after another. Celtic Manor has endured torrential rains and two long delays. Now, it's hosting the first Monday finish in the history of this 83-year-old event.

Why not bring back the cup against all possible odds?

"We have 12 of the best players in the world," Pavin said. "They have 12 of the best players in the world, too. In match play, anything can happen. The one thing I can guarantee you is that Team USA is going to come out tomorrow and play hard and try to win the Ryder Cup."

The Americans can only hope most of the waterlogged fans cheering on the Europeans had to get back to work. Of course, Montgomerie urged everyone to hang around Newport one extra day, even though this place has hardly come across as a tourist paradise with the weather.

"Quite a few of them might need a sick note," Montgomerie quipped.

The forecast Monday was good by Welsh standards, though a thick fog engulfed the valley over the Twenty Ten course when Steve Stricker teed off in the first match against Lee Westwood. The mini-stadium around the first tee was packed with fans who chanted "You have Big Mac, we have Little Mac!" as Rory McIlroy entered for his match against Stewart Cink.

No matter what, the cup will be delivered to one team or the other by sundown. Any match still on the course will be halved, someone declared the winner.

Montgomerie has seemingly pushed every right button at this Ryder Cup, from setting up the team on an emotional call with former European star Seve Ballesteros (who's battling brain cancer) to urging players to show more emotion to having the scoreboards changed so that every match the Europeans were leading would be shown in hard-to-miss blue, the team color.

When they walked off the course Sunday, he reminded them of what happened 11 years ago.

"Brookline was mentioned in the locker room," said Montgomerie, who played on the losing European team. "This isn't as good of a position as then."

Still, all signs point to the Europeans reclaiming the cup they lost at Valhalla.