Americans will still fight for this – Pavin

Asked if the holders could mount a charge after suffering a demoralizing 52-2 defeat in the third session, Pavin

replied: "Absolutely. We have got 12 of the best players in the world, they have 12 of the best players in the world and in matchplay anything can happen.

"The one thing I can guarantee you is Team USA is going to come out (Monday) and play hard and try to win the Ryder Cup. They are going to come out firing.

"They have to go out and perform and if they do that I think we have a chance."

Rather than dwell on the negatives, Pavin tried to boost morale among his battered troops by praising the spirit of his players on Sunday.

"I was very, very proud of them," he said. "We went to sleep last night down in every match and I watched 12 men out there who fought hard and held their heads high.

"They played every shot hard and we got a couple of matches to the 18th. I saw guys fighting and not quite getting the result.

"They hung in there and I did not see one single head go down and we are going to play that way (today)."

Pavin acknowledged his team faced a difficult task but re-iterated his belief they can get the points needed to retain the trophy and claim a first win in Europe for 17 years.

"I think it is very plausible," he said. "Is it an uphill battle? Yes, of course because we have to win more points than they do.

"I have a lot of confidence in the guys. I liked what I saw out there (yesterday), even though the results were not what we wanted. As far as I know the event is over tomorrow, not today."