Lloyd Saltman won two points on day one

The visitors lost the opening foursomes 2�-1�, Lloyd Saltman and Richie Ramsay the only victors over Kyle Reifers and Billy Hurley 4&3.

But they drew the afternoon singles 4-4 to stay on target for their fourth straight win in the biennial event.

Rhys Davies, Oliver Fisher, Matthew Richardson and Saltman all won their singles contests.

Davies, the 20-year-old former British boys' champion from Porthcawl, rolled in successive birdies at the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th to sweep to a commanding win over Matthew Every.

In the next match, Davies' fellow Welshman Nigel Edwards, who holed the winning putt for Great Britain & Ireland in the 2003 contest, fell to a 5&4 defeat to Jeff Overton.

Gary Lockerbie was soundly beaten 6&5 by Californian's Anthony Kim before European champion Richardson raised spirits with a rousing 5&4 win over Florida's Nick Thompson.

Essex 16-year-old Fisher, the youngest ever Walker Cup competitor, then notched four birdies in the last five holes to beat Michael Putnam, the number one ranked player on the US college circuit, by two holes.

Fisher won his first Walker Cup point in the singles

Saltman, the Silver Medal winner in last month's Open Championship, safeguarded his 100% record on the first day with a 4&3 win over Billy Hurley.

English veteran Gary Wolstenholme, disappointed at having been omitted from the foursomes line-up, went down to a battling one hole defeat to John Holmes.

And Lee Williams, the only US player with any past Walker Cup experience, beat amateur champion Brian McElhinney 2&1 in the day's final tie as the hosts took a slender halfway lead.

In the morning foursomes, Edwards and Davies lost the chance to grab an early lead when they surrendered a three-hole advantage and had to settle for a half against Kim and Brian Harman.

The American duo birdied the 11th, 12th and 16th and managed to claim a half after Kim chipped to within three feet at the last.

In match two, Lockerbie and Robert Dinwiddie never recovered from going one down at the first and ended up losing by one hole to Every and Williams.

America then increased their lead when Overton and Putnam fired birdies at 13, 14, 15 and 16 to beat Richardson and Fisher 2&1.

But the visitors claimed an important point in the fourth match when Saltman, the Open Championship silver medal winner, and Irish Open strokeplay champion Ramsay romped to a 4&3 victory over Hurley and Reifers.