OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Team USA swept the Thursday afternoon singles matches to take a 9-3 at the Palmer Cup at Caves Valley Golf Club. The sweep was the first singles sweep in the 11-year history of the event, which matches a team of U.S.-born collegians against a team from Europe.

Recent NCAA medalist Jamie Lovemark of Southern California got the United States off to a fast start by downing Rhys Davies, 4 & 2. Lovemark birdied eight holes in the win and was the only American player to never trail in his match.

Luke List beat Jorge Campillo, 2-up. Campillo won the first hole, but List would claim the next three and eventually extend his lead to 3-up thru 11. Campillo evened the match at No. 16 but List would claim the final two holes.

Brian Harman would give the Americans their first team lead of the day after claiming a 4 & 2 victory against Pedro Oriol. Oriol held a 1-up lead for much of the front nine, but Harman would even the match after the turn and claim Nos. 12, 13, 15 and 16. Billy Horschel came from behind to defeat Gareth Shaw, 2-up. Shaw led for nine of the first 15 holes -- including 2-up through 12 -- but Horschel won the final three.

Two-straight matches ended with 2 & 1 margins of victory -- Jonathan Moore over Gordon Yates and Webb Simpson against Jonas Blixt. Moore would take an early lead in his match with a birdie at the third but would relinquish the lead with bogey at Nos. 5 and 6. He would tie the match again with a birdie at the seventh and move ahead with a Yates bogey at No. 9.

Yates moved the match back to all square with birdie at No. 12 but Moore would eagle No. 14 and close the match after Yates bogeyed No. 17. Simpson took the lead after the first against Blixt, but Blixt would eagle No. 3 and birdie the par-3 fourth to move ahead. Blixt would give up the lead after a bogey on No. 6 but reclaim the lead the following hole with a birdie. Three straight Blixt bogeys would allow Simpson to retake a lead he would not relinquish.

Oscar Floren led Dustin Johnson for three of the first four holes of their match but Johnson would lead after the seventh onward in his 4 & 2 victory. Johnson would win No. 10 with a birdie and the 11th with par before Floren conceded No. 13 to extend the lead to four holes. The two players would trade birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.

Chris Kirk would complete the sweep with the biggest of the come-from-behind victories, 1-up, against Mark Haastrup. Haastrup birdied the first two holes and eagled the third to jump to a 3-up lead thru three. Kirk would manage to whittle the lead back to all square by the turn, but Haastrup would regain the lead after No. 11. Kirk would claim Nos. 14 and 15 to take the lead for good.

Earlier, Europe won three of the four fourball matches to take a 3-1 lead in the morning. Davies and Shaw posted a tournament-record 9 & 7 victory in the first match of the day.

"There were great matches this morning," said European Head Coach Chris van der Velde. "Rhys Davies is our strongest player and Gareth Shaw said to me after their match that after Rhys birdied the first two holes he didn't want to be left out of the match. Gareth went on to birdie three, four, five, six, seven and nine. Anytime you can start a match by winning 9 & 7, it sends a message to the rest of the team and lets them know they can go for it."

Teammates at East Tennessee State, Davies and Shaw used a barrage of birdies to take control of their match against List and Lovemark. The Europeans birdied the first seven holes to race to a 6-up lead and then birdied Nos. 9-11 for the record breaking victory -- bettering the old mark of 8 & 6 posted twice by the Europeans in 2004 at Ballybunion. Shaw posted nine birdies while Davies carded four.

The U.S. would even the matches at 1-1 with Harman and Horschel's 3 & 2 victory over Jorge Campillo and Pedro Oriol. Team USA claimed the first hole but the Spaniards evened the match after the second hole. The two sides remained all square until No. 11 when both American players birdied and Harman birdied the 12th for a 2-up lead. Europe cut the lead back to 1-up with a birdie on the next hole, but a Horschel birdie on No. 15 and pair of American birdies on No. 16 closed the match.

Floren and Blixt won the third match 2 & 1 against Johnson and Kirk to push the advantage to 2-1. Floren birdied the first hole to give Europe an early lead but Team USA evened the match with a birdie on No. 3. Floren regained the lead for the Europeans with a birdie on fourth. The U.S. evened the score when Kirk birdied the next hole.

The Swedes pushed the lead to 2-up when Floren drained a long birdie putt on No. 7 and both American players bogeyed the eighth. The European lead was extended to three holes when only Blixt managed par on No. 11. Team USA battled back to 1-up after a Kirk birdie on No. 12 and an eagle on the 13th by Johnson. Blixt posted his fourth birdie on No. 16 to move the lead back to 2-up and both teams recorded par on No. 17.

In the only match to go the full 18 holes, Haastrup and Yates claimed a 1-up victory against Moore and Simpson. Neither team was able to claim an advantage until Haastrup birdied the fifth. Simpson evened the match after a birdie on No. 6. Haastrup birdied both Nos. 8 and 10 to give Europe a 2-up lead. A Moore birdie on the 12th cut the lead to 1-up, but Yates birdied the next hole to push the lead back to 2-up. Simpson birdied No. 16 to again cut the lead to one hole, but the U.S. was unable to even the match over the next two holes.

The matches resume Friday at 7:30 a.m. with foursomes. The final-round singles begin at 1:30 p.m.