The US surged to a 4-0 lead at Finca Cortesin in Spain, only their second clean sweep of the session.

However, defending champions Europe won the second session 3-1 with two wins and two draws.

The highlight of Europe’s day was Emily Pedersen’s hole-in-one on the 12th, only the second in Solheim history.

Pedersen was showered with hugs from her caddie and playing partner Maja Stark, while US opponent Allisen Corpuz even gave her a high-five.

The European pair never led in a close encounter that ended all square, and Stark sank a 12-footer to guarantee they took a half point.

This came after a 4&2 win for Carlota Ciganda and Linn Grant of Sweden, who appeared at ease against Angel Yin and Ally Ewing. They were two up after four holes and lost only one hole to secure the Europeans’ first full point.

The other two matches ended in a tie on the 18th.

Leona Maguire added a four and then watched as Lexi Thompson and Lilia Vu failed to match her score, allowing the Irishwoman and Georgia Hall to win.

That happened just moments after Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland and Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden scored a half point against Rose Zhang and Megan Khang by halving the last.

It was a spectacular change of events for the Europeans who had spent the morning in Andalucia, southern Spain.

Three of those lost matches were see-saw clashes that could have gone any way, which provided some solace for Europe.

Matches that were as tight in the afternoon session turned blue.

From the 11th hole, Dryburgh and Sagstrom won three holes in a row to convert the top match from one down to one up. After the 15th, the match was even again, and they split the following two.

Zhang, 20, then had a 10-foot putt to win the match on the last hole, but it sailed wide.

Hall and Maguire took the lead on the fourth hole of the second match, a position they would hold until the par-four 14th hole, when Thompson drove the green and sunk her eagle putt.

Europe won the next hole in par, but Vu birdied the 17th to restore parity. The 18th was just as tight. Maguire scored from 25 yards out, but Thompson had a three-point chance.

However, the American shanked her chip from the rough and wound up 30 yards away, despite being 15 feet from the pin. Vu then missed from 20 feet out, giving Europe another point.