Chastened after being swept 5-0 by the International team on day two as the hosts levelled the scores at 5-5, the Americans dominated a marathon day three at Royal Montreal Golf Club on Saturday.
They won the morning four-ball matches 3-1 then matched that scoreline in the afternoon foursomes to take an 11-7 lead into Sunday's 12 singles matches, needing to get to 15.5 points to win the Presidents Cup yet again.
Playing in his 11th Presidents Cup, Adam Scott was the only Australian in action on Saturday, with Jason Day and Min Woo Lee unused along with Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Byeong Hun An as Internationals captain Mike Weir employed the same four pairings thoughout the day.
Lee was sat out for a second straight day after an opening-day four-ball loss alongside Scott.
Playing alongside Canada's Taylor Pendrith, Scott suffered a 2 and 1 loss to Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa in Saturday's four-balls but they bounced back to beat Brian Harman and Max Homa 2 up in foursomes.
Scott took his record in event to 2-2 after playing every session.
Adam Scott (l) and Taylor Pendrith amid fog which temporarily halted Presidents Cup play. (AP PHOTO)
Impressive South Korean duo Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim got the Internationals' only other win of the day, beating Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark 4 and 3 in four-balls.
Day will lead off the singles matches against Xander Schauffele.
Then Tom Kim will face Sam Burns, followed by Hideki Matsuyama v Scheffler, Sungjae Im v Russell Henley, Pendrith v Patrick Cantlay and Si Woo Kim v Bradley.
Corey Conners faces Tony Finau, Lee takes on Clark, then its An v Sahith Theegala, Scott v Morikawa and Bezuidenhout v Harman before Homa tackles McKenzie Hughes in the anchor match.
The Internationals are trying to beat the Americans for the first time since 1998.
Third-round action at the biennial event was interrupted by a roughly 90-minute fog delay that saw players removed from the course about 25 minutes after play began.
The Americans also led by four points going into the final day two years ago on home soil at Quail Hollow.
The International team have won the singles session only three out of 14 times, all of them when it trailed by at least six points and the cup had been all but decided.
With Reuters
