A red wave washed over the Ryder Cup on Friday as the United States dominated both foursome and fourball sessions to grab a commanding 6-2 lead over titleholders Europe for their largest opening-day advantage in the biennial event in nearly half a century.

With U.S. results highlighted in red and Europe in blue on the Whistling Straits's scoreboards, chants of "USA, USA" rang out across the striking links-style layout from dawn to dusk as 40,000 mostly American fans basked in a dominating performance by the United States not seen since 1975.

By winning both sessions 3-1, U.S. captain Steve Stricker's men are nearly halfway to the 14½ points needed to reclaim the small gold cup that will be hoisted by the winners on Sunday.