The 2018 Ryder Cup is barely half over, and it feels like we've experienced two years' worth of moments. This is how Ryder Cups normally go, I suppose. You wait 24 months, and it's over faster than Bryson DeChambeau can convert yards to meters in his head.

Europe leads big going into Sunday and is likely on its way to another coronation day, just like 2014 at Gleneagles when it slipped a little early in singles, but Jamie Donaldson inserted the dagger late. Nobody knows who holds it this time around, but a Henrik Stenson or Sergio Garcia closing putt late in the day on Sunday would be pretty cool for the home crowd.

If the United States comes back to grab the eight points it needs to retain the cup, it would be one of the great days in the history of American golf. Absolutely nothing about how the first two days have gone says this will happen, and yet there is both hope and history turn to. Hope in the form of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, and history in the from of 1999 at Brookline (and even 2012 at Medinah). It will take a miracle, which is exactly what we've seen in two of the last three 10-6 leads.

Here are eight takeaways from the first two days of play.

1. Sergio Garcia is timeless: The year is 2038, and Sergio Garcia has not played competitive professional golf in several years. He has retired to his home in Austin, Texas, and caddies full time for his daughter, Azalea. He is happy. In a surprise move, European captain Tommy Fleetwood picks a 58-year-old Garcia for the 2038 Ryder Cup in England, and Garcia proceeds to win three matches and pounds Charlie Woods 7 & 6 on Sunday in singles play. That's what his performance on Saturday morning made me feel like. If he wins on Sunday against Rickie Fowler, he will be the all-time leader in points won at a Ryder Cup. Legend.

2. Tommy Fleetwood is without borders: I'm not even mad. He's so easy to like and so good that I don't care who knows how much I'm enjoying the full Fleetwood Experience. Tommy Lad is out here, hair flowing, not even watching his birdies go in the hole. Who knows, maybe with a look like that, he's omniscient. 

He and Francesco Molinari have played 60 holes and won 27 of them with 22 birdies. They pounded Tiger Woods on Friday. Then they pounded him twice more on Saturday. They became the first two Euros to go 4-0-0 at a Ryder Cup. He has owned the 2018 Ryder Cup.

3. Tiger Woods is listless: Woods moved to 13-20-3 in his career at the Ryder Cup. More disconcerting on Saturday was that he looked downtrodden all day with Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau as his partners. I've seen more life in mid-summer pro-ams than what Woods was pumping on Saturday during his two matches. His demeanor and tone were off all day, and it hurt the American side. Hopefully for him (and the U.S.), he'll come out on Sunday with more pep and a better short game. The turning of the tide might depend on it.

4. Kid king(s)? What if ... Jordan Spieth wasn't the only generationally-great golfer from the class of 2011? What if Justin Thomas is, too? That pair was an anchor for a U.S. side getting thrashed against the rocks all day on Saturday, and Thomas in particular was elite. He reveled in the hate from European fans, made everything he looked at and generally seemed cocksure when nobody else on his team looked like they wanted any part of the heat Europe was throwing.

In short, there's a reason he's going off first in the Sunday singles matches. One thing an often more-talented U.S. team room has lacked over the years is a heartbeat who also played great golf -- a Justin Rose or a Rory McIlroy or a Sergio Garcia. Those guys care about winning the Ryder Cup, and they want everyone within a D.J. driver of them to know about it. Thomas fits the mold. He'll be an asset for the next 15 years.

As an aside, Spieth thumping his heart in Poulter's face after taking a full point from him was particularly delightful.

5. Bubba paid off! Just like we all thought, Bubba Watson was part of a pairing that had a point locked down for most of the afternoon on Saturday. He combined with Webb Simpson as those two lit Garcia and Alex Noren on fire with six birdies (!) and an eagle in foursomes. Good on him for bouncing back and on Simpson for capping what has been an insanely good year with a putt he'll remember for a long time to slay Garcia.

6. This course has been intriguing: I have a confession here. I kind of like the play this course elicits. There's probably too much water, and the fairways are too thin, but it has forced great iron play and elite second shots for birdie or better. Is it full of options and angles to play? Not really, which is unfortunate because that's half the fun of a tournament like this, but I do think I like it better than the 34,000-yard (approximately) course these two teams played in 2016. I don't believe it's a truer test of golf, just a different one (that definitely favors Europe).

7. American heavyweights, where art thou? Furyk badly needed D.J. and Brooks Koepka to flip their match against Stenson and Rose late, and they couldn't do it. It felt like the entire event swung on that match, and for a while it looked as if the bash brothers would pull the U.S. to a 9-7 or 9.5-6.5 score going into Sunday. They only made three birdies throughout, though, and a sloppy bogey ended the festivities on the 17th. In seven combined matches, the two highest-ranked players on the U.S. side have just two combined points. Throw in Patrick Reed's 0-3-0 showing, and three guys considered assets coming have run cold (I would say more about Reed, but I think I've said enough).

Also, shoutout to Stenson and Rose for cooly closing two monsters in D.J. and Koepka. They hit more big putts over the final few holes than most golfers hit in a lifetime of tournament play. Those dudes have been in some wars and seen some stuff. They aren't going to get rattled just because Koepka can put a couple of plates on each side of the bench rack. They're all-time greats. 

8. The game is the game: I think to say Furyk has been worked by Euro captain Thomas Bjorn is a bit disingenuous (at some point you can only do so much as a captain). But Bjorn has been masterful in working his players in and out and keeping pairings fresh. He's moved Rory McIlroy around, let his horses go and put everyone in premium positions for success. 

The course setup has been delectable for their ball-striking superiority this week, too. The Euros get it. They get the whole thing. I said that after their presser at Hazeltine when they eased the mood with loads of self-deprecation, and I'll say it two years from now at Whistling Straits. That doesn't mean they're going to win every Ryder Cup, of course, but their processes are so ingrained and so solid that they always at least feel like they're giving themselves a fighting chance.