Casey held his nerve under great pressure at the 18th

Paul Casey hit US hopes as he birdied the last to rescue a half in the Ryder Cup fourballs with Robert Karlsson against JJ Henry and Stewart Cink.

Europe birdied two of the first four holes to take control early on, but Henry's par at the sixth cut the gap.

Casey restored the two-hole lead but Cink responded in kind at the 10th to keep Europe within striking distance.

Henry eagled the 16th and birdied the 17th to take a lead into the last hole but missed his putt to let Casey in.

Casey and Karlsson will be glad to see the back of Cink and Henry after halving two matches against them in two days.

I thought Robert and I probably played better golf than we did on Friday Europe's Paul Casey

On Friday, the European pairing allowed a three-hole lead to slip back to all square and they will count themselves fortunate to have escaped with a half from Saturday's encounter.

With the rain lashing down at the K Club, Cink and Henry turned on the style down the back nine but fell agonisingly short of delivering the win US captain Tom Lehman so desperately needed.

Cink's birdie at the 10th gave the US hope after Karlsson's putt had lipped out to create the opportunity.

And Europe almost paid a heavy price for missing chances at the 11th and 12th.

After several holes of tense stalemate, Henry made his move at the 16th with a brave eagle to establish some real momentum for the US.

The rookie then followed it up with a birdie at the next.

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But Henry left his birdie putt at the last just short to present Casey with the chance, and the World Match Play champion needed no second invitation.

Casey said he thought the late drama would be a major blow to American hopes.

"I thought that snatching the full point away from them would really hurt so that was the aim," said Casey.

"I've played this hole too many times and three-putted it too many times, so I knew that JJ didn't have it in the bag.

"I thought Robert and I probably played better golf than we did on Friday and I really thought we were going to win this one.