Powerful Irishman Darren Clarke beat an erratic Fred Couples by three strokes, 71-74, in the deciding individual contest of the tie.
The other tie in the same group also produced a 2-1 upset as Japan beat eighth-seeded New Zealand.
In matches Thursday, the Americans edged past Japan while Scotland gained revenge against Paraguay as vicious winds of up to 80 kph battered the golfers. Gusts were far gentler Friday.
Curtis Strange, winner of successive U.S. Opens in 1988 and 1989, was the architect of the 2-1 triumph, with six closing pars taking him past Tomohiro Maruyama to a victory by 78 shots to 80 in the decisive match.
Scottish rookie Andrew Coltart won a nailbiting battle against Raul Fretes on the first playoff hole after squandering a six-shot lead with seven holes left as sixth-seeded Scotland won 2-1 against the Paraguayan trio who had humiliated them at exactly the same stage last year.
No one beat the par-72 on the 6,933-yard Old Course.
World No. 1 Nick Price beat fourth-ranked Bernhard Langer 76-78 for his first individual triumph in the competition as second-seeded Zimbabwe won 2-1 over the Germans. Price lost all three of his matches for Zimbabwe last year.
All eight seeded teams won their ties on the first of three days of round-robin group action Thursday. Group winners go into the semifinals Sunday morning with the final to follow.
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