They’re preparing for the Great American Eclipse over here in the good old US of A. Forget blackouts, though, it was a whitewash that whipped everybody into a flag-waving fankle at the Solheim Cup.

A US team had never made a clean sweep of a session in the 27 year history of this transatlantic tussle. That all changed yesterday as the hosts romped into the record books.

After Europe’s sprightly start – the visitors edged the morning foursomes by a 2 ½ - 1 ½ margin – Team USA flung a star spangled spanner into those works with a 4-0 rout of the fourballs. There’s still plenty of golf to be played, of course, but this was a devastating dunt for Annika Sorenstam’s Europeans to suffer as they fell three points behind at 5 ½ - 2 ½ .

“This is not the history we want, we want the history on Sunday night by winning the cup,” said Juli Inkster, the American captain. “We played amazing golf this afternoon but Annika will have the Europeans fired up, so we need to keep doing what we are doing.”

The US cavalry charge was exemplified by Lizette Salas. All that was missing was a bugle as she came bounding into action and hit the European pairing of Carlota Ciganda and Emily Pedersen with a fearsome salvo of three birdies on the first three holes to put her and her impressive rookie partner, Angel Yin, three up. The Europeans would never recover from that and Salas and Yin eventually triumphed by a thumping 6&5 margin, the second biggest win in Solheim Cup fourballs.

Everywhere you turned, Team USA were holing putts, forging leads and exerting their authority. The Europeans, meanwhile, couldn’t buy a putt even if they were being flogged at cut price deals in the vast official merchandise marquee. Danielle Kang revelled in her Solheim Cup debut and teamed up with Michelle Wie to ease past Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Madelene Sagstrom by 3&1.

Brittany Lincicome and Brittany Lang closed out a commanding 3&2 victory over Florentyna Parker and Caroline Masson to pile more pressure onto the hattered Europeans. Masson was approximately six-under on her own ball but still lost. It was a tough old day. By this stage, it was straw clutching time for the visitors and attention swiftly moved to the final match involving Charley Hull and Georgia Hall. Two down with four to play against Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller, Hull ignited renewed hope of salvaging something when she chipped in on the 15th to reduce the leeway.

The US duo upped the ante on the 17th, though, to thwart any further forward manoeuvres. Both plonked their tee-shots in close at the par-3 and with Hall and Hull only mustering pars, Lewis knocked in her birdie putt to seal a 2&1 win and complete the demolition job.

A few hours earlier things had looked all very different. It was loud and proud as the USA fans cranked up the volume amid a sea of red, white and blue. The visitors made their own noises, though. By the end of the opening foursomes exchanges, the boisterous, defiant cries of ‘Yoo-rup’ would have given the hardiest of Brexiteers the heebie-jeebies.

On a bright, warm Iowa morning, Catriona Matthew revelled in the heat of the battle over a rigorous course that can take a hefty toll. Called up at the 11th hour following Suzann Pettersen’s late withdrawal due to a niggling back injury, Matthew rose to the occasion in her usual quiet, considered but clinically purposeful way.

In partnership with the 38-year-old Karine Icher, this effective European alliance dug deep to claim a one hole victory over the US pairing of Lewis and Piller. “The two oldies played well together,” said the 47-year-old Matthew with a smile. “Karine might not like me calling her that, though.”

In her ninth Solheim Cup appearance, this latest victory for Matthew took the Scottish veteran’s total points haul in the biennial bout to 20. It’s the third best European record behind Sorenstam and the redoubtable Laura Davies.

Matthew and Icher were playing in the final match of the morning. Will your anchor hold? It certainly did as the duo overturned a two-hole deficit on the back nine and defended it stoutly coming down the stretch. Matthew’s majesty was illuminated on the tough 13th as she launched a terrific 5-wood into 20 feet. Icher stepped up and trundled in the birdie putt. It would prove to be a telling moment. That got the Europeans back to within a hole of their opponents and another birdie putt from Icher on the 14th, after Matthew had knocked an approach into 15 feet, restored parity. An American bogey on the 16th gave Matthew and Icher a one hole advantage before Matthew almost holed out from the bunker on the 17th as the Europeans continued to stave off the menacing advances of their rivals. The US pairing had a final chance to salvage a half-point on the 18th green. With Europe failing to get up and down, Piller stood over a par putt of some six-feet but she couldn’t seize the opportunity and Europe claimed a vital win. . “We were maybe a little fortunate at the last, but you've got to take your chances,” reflected Matthew, who was given the afternoon off by Sorenstam after her sterling efforts. “We didn’t do much wrong on that front nine and we just told ourselves to keep going and stick in.”

She may have seen it, done and acquired a garret-full of officially branded t-shirts, but Matthew still gets affected by the tumult of this transatlantic tussle. “I was shaking like a leaf on the first green but managed to hole a good putt,” she said. “I don't think it matters how many you've played in, you're still nervous. It still gets the juices flowing. If you don’t get going for this, then there’s no point playing golf.”

Both sides were certainly up for the Cup. The weight of expectation that gets lumped on to the shoulders of the person hitting the first tee-shot tends to be heavier than the burden that Atlas used to prop up. Lexi Thompson didn’t seem bothered by it all, though. She smacked a raking opening drive at the 306-yard to about 10 feet of the hole and her partner, Cristie Kerr, knocked in the eagle putt as the US pair stole an early march on Hull and Mel Reid.

The Europeans rallied, however, and when Hull dinked in a delightful chip for birdie on the 16th they were two-up. The pendulous nature of the match continued on the 17th when Hull thinned a pitch and Thompson made a crucial par-putt to steal a hole back. Kerr then stepped up to the plate on the last and drained a 12-footer for birdie to pinch a half point. That late flurry simply illustrated the fluctuating fortunes of the matchplay format

Europe’s fortunes were improved when Anna Nordqvist and Hall eased to a 3&1 win over Paula Creamer and Austin Ernst which off-set a narrow defeat for Ciganda and Masson against Salas and Kang.

Team Europe went into the afternoon with a spring in their step. By the end of a torrid session, though, they were just about on their knees. They need to pick themselves up quickly.