Team USA captain Tom Watson has insisted that there is still plenty of time for his players to fight back after a disappointing afternoon on day one of the 40th Ryder Cup.

After taking a 2.5-1.5 lead from the opening fourball session, Watson's men managed just half a point in the afternoon foursomes to trail 5-3 going into today's eight matches.

"It's like the second quarter in an [American] football game," Watson told Sky Sports News this morning.

"We're a touchdown behind, but we got two quarters to go and then overtime. That's the way I framed it with my players and that's the way they understand it too."

Watson was criticised by some for not playing in-form rookies Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth in the afternoon on Friday after their convincing 5&4 victory over local favourite Stephen Gallacher and European hero from two years ago Ian Poulter.

This morning, he stressed that the players who are in the best form will be picked.

"There's a lot of statistics and numbers involved in the early pairings today and it will be the same this afternoon," he added.

"As I said right from the beginning, we're going to go with the players that we think are playing the best and try to put them together."

Follow all the action from the opening fourball session on day two with Sports Mole's up-to-the-minute live blog.