LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- For those out there who believed the Ryder Cup had lost some of its raw emotion, it's hyperventilating and heavy breathing, it's almost incomprehensible appeal, consider this telling anecdote.

After rising European star Ian Poulter made a knee-knocking 30-inch putt on the last hole to secure a crucial point in the gloaming on Saturday, he walked over to the team's assistant captain, who was feeling a bit transported by the moment.

Nick Faldo and the Europeans are pumped after Ian Poulter's birdie putt on the 18th green. (Getty Images)

Jose Maria Olazabal, the team's assistant captain, turned to the deliriously happy Poulter and cracked, "I'd kiss you on the mouth, but television is watching."

Given the dramatics of the moment, we're only 90 percent sure he was kidding. Mind you, the levels of tension were so high, Ollie's European team isn't even winning.

In one of the truly memorable days in Ryder history, the U.S. team somehow hung on to a 9-7 lead heading into Sunday's singles matches, which at the rate ulcers are being formed, could clean the Louisville shelves of Pepto-Bismol and Maalox.

You could say the American are hanging on by their fingernails, but nobody has any left. At the end of a day when the big shots were so numerous they blurred the minds, both teams left Valhalla Golf Club dazed, delirious and anticipating one the wildest finishes in event history.

The tension was so thick, you couldn't cut it with a knife.

"It seems to kind of top itself," said European captain Nick Faldo, who played in 11 Ryder competitions and never saw anything quite like Saturday. "The Ryder Cup seems to take itself to another level."

Three matches in the afternoon best-ball session went down to the final hole, with Poulter and America's Steve Stricker contributing teeth-gnashing putts to get on the scoreboard, and it was almost impossible to tally the ebb and flow, that was more like periodic tidal surges.

"It's all a bit of a blur, really," said Poulter, who leads Europe with three points.

American standout Boo Weekley, who teamed with Kentucky's J.B. Holmes to win the U.S. team's lone victory in the afternoon, felt like he'd been injected with a thousand volts of electricity, which is saying something, considering that much of Louisville doesn't have any power after last week's hurricane.

"I could run around a greyhound track and catch me one of them bunnies," he said.

The pace was beyond dizzying. The birdies came in bunches as players bobbed and weaved. The end result was that both teams feel like they have the upper hand heading into what should be a brilliant Sunday. It was hard to argue either point, given the history.

Forget the scoreboard -- Faldo insisted the momentum had clearly shifted, since the Euros shaved a point off of Friday's opening-day margin and seemingly gained tons of confidence through the roster.

"We're even," he said, appropriately, evenly.

Not quite, but his emotions were understandable. Same for his opposite number, Paul Azinger, who is the first captain to hold a lead entering play on Sunday since 1995, when the U.S. also held a 9-7 edge.

And promptly lost.

"Who gives a crap?" Azinger said. "There's not one guy from that team on this roster."

It's not a great idea to fixate on trends if you are an American, since the Europeans have won five of the past six competitions. As has been the case in almost every aspect of the Ryder over the past two decades, the American success on Sunday has been checkered, too. Europe has won four of the last six singles sessions, including three in succession.

The U.S. record over the past three competitions in Sunday singles is an appalling 9-20-7, and mind you, that's with Tiger Woods on all three rosters. The Europeans need to amass a total of seven points to retain the cup and are sending two of their heavyweights off last, with Lee Westwood and three-time major champion Padraig Harrington going off last against Ben Curtis and Chad Campbell.

Astoundingly, the Europeans remain within striking distance despite the fact that thoroughbreds Sergio Garcia, Westwood and Harrington have not won a full point.

"That's the reason we're ahead," Azinger surmised.

But it hasn't derailed the Euros, since feisty fighters like Graeme McDowell, Robert Karlsson and Poulter, a controversial captain's selection, have filled the void.

Afterward, the Europeans seemed to be riding at least two or three notches higher on the adrenaline scale compared to the Yanks. This deed is definitely do-able, Poulter said.

"Speak to the boys," he said. "I think we got huge piece of momentum. The guys are proper, proper pumped. It's awesome, listen to the fans. This is what the Ryder Cup is all about."

Seven of the eight matches on scintillating Saturday went to the 17th hole or beyond, and a staggering, stammering three of them went to the 18th in the afternoon session alone.

Just a few months after Ryder legend Seve Ballesteros said he thought the matches were becoming "boring" because the Americans hadn't been winning, and that luster was suffering because of the lopsidedness of the European victories, he can officially stand corrected. The only thing that's been lost is stomach linings.

"I can't explain the emotion and energy expended just from sitting around in a golf cart all day," Azinger laughed.

The last two hours of the afternoon session were like watching sharks circle baby seals. But the teams kept changing roles. Even the mild-mannered Stricker had an out-of-body experience after he matched a Garcia birdie on the eighth hole and unleashed a primal scream, just as the Spaniard had done a minute earlier.

"I am not the type of player that you saw out there," he said, nearly blushing.

Everybody's play, and some of the behavior, was transcendent. Every player on both rosters has scored at least a half-point, which makes handicapping the Sunday singles that much harder.

"If you look at their team you've got to say they're probably favored," Azinger said, a surprising admission.

He'd get a pretty strong argument in many quarters. But finding a consensus, that would be nigh on impossible after Saturday's shootout.

"Tomorrow is going to be one helluva day," Poulter said.