With champagne chilling, Poulter gives Europe its 1st singles point toward a Ryder Cup

Europe tries to finish off a Ryder Cup triumph

NEWPORT, Wales — Tiger Woods has kept up his strong singles play at the Ryder Cup, beating Francesco Molinari 4 and 3 to give the United States a sliver of hope to keep the trophy.

Coming off the worst Ryder Cup loss of his career in alternate shot, Woods played some of his best golf of the year to wipe out an early two-hole deficit Monday. He holed out an eagle from the fairway at No. 12 and played the 15 holes at 9 under.

Woods win closed the gap to 13-11, with two more points seemingly assured from Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson. But Francesco’s brother, Edoardo Molinari, was assured of at least a half-point against Rickie Fowler, so the Americans will likely need a win from Hunter Mahan in the final match to keep the cup.

Graeme McDowell had a 2-up lead on Mahan with five to play.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — The oldest player at the Ryder Cup has moved the Europeans closer to regaining the trophy.

Forty-six-year-old Miguel Angel Jimenez played a brilliant shot out of the bunker and tapped in a short birdie putt at No. 15 to finish off a 4-and-3 victory over Bubba Watson on Monday.

Ryder Cup rookie Jeff Overton beat Ross Fisher 3 and 2 to leave the Americans with the same deficit they faced at the beginning of the day, 13-10. The Europeans need only 1½ more points to win back the cup.

The Americans still have a slim chance. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson are close to winning their matches, so it could come down to the last singles. Hunter Mahan is 2 down against Graeme McDowell with six holes left and probably needs a win.