SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — The Americans are red, black and blue at the 42nd Ryder Cup.

Beginning shortly after the U.S. took a 3-0 lead Friday morning in four-balls — yes, you can look it up, the Stars & Stripes were once comfortably ahead — the Europeans have been magnifique and thoroughly beaten their foes silly.

Things are so bad across the pond, the U.S. has tied a Ryder Cup record by losing eight consecutive matches — the last fourballs match Friday morning, the four foursomes matches Friday afternoon and the first three fourballs matches Saturday morning.

Heading into the afternoon foursomes, the U.S. is down 8-4. The only time the Americans have come back to win the Ryder Cup after facing an 8-4 deficit was in 1999 at Brookline in Boston.

What could go wrong has gone wrong for the Americans. The mighty Tiger Woods and Captain America, Patrick Reed, have teamed to lose both of their matches, inspiring the Euros. And to a man, the Americans have missed short putts to win holes, have found far too much heavy rough rimming the course and have not been able to gain any momentum.

More:Team Europe rolls out same lineup for Saturday foursomes

At times the U.S. has looked lost at Le Golf National, searching for answers in foreign territory as misread putts roll offline and mishit drives sail offline. Meanwhile, the comfort of home soil is real for the Europeans, as Le Golf National hosts the French Open, a regular stop on the European Tour.

The Euros on the team have combined to play 233 rounds here during the French Open; the Americans eight. And the Europeans don’t just play, they play well at Le Golf National.

Alex Noren won the French Open this year, Tommy Fleetwood won it last year. Additional top-10s in the French Open have been registered by Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Ian Poulter, Thorbjorn Olesen, Francesco Molinari and Rory McIlroy. Not surprisingly, Fleetwood, Molinari, Garcia, Noren, Poulter and McIlroy have been superb this week.

And what is the U.S. to do when it seems the golf gods bless Garcia and Poulter every time a Ryder Cup rolls around and they become nearly unbeatable? The gods must have touched McIlroy’s putter, too, for the man who struggled all year with the flat stick is making putts all over the place.

Mother Nature has seemed to have had a hand in the proceedings, as well. The U.S. looks gassed, perhaps zapped by the heat of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Atlanta during the grind of the FedExCup Playoffs. So it’s not surprising when they looked out of sorts when the temps dipped Friday afternoon and the winds picked up, and then shaken to the bone when they showed up wearing ski caps Saturday morning when it took hours for the temps to reach 40, then 45, then 50.

The U.S. can’t change the venue for Saturday afternoon’s foursomes, but it has warmed up. Momentum in the Ryder Cup can turn at any second. Maybe, just maybe, after doing so little right, the Americans will do nothing wrong with their backs against the wall.