Luke Donald's side led the United States 5.5-2.5 after a memorable Friday at Bethpage Black attended by US president Donald Trump and where McIlroy was at the centre of the action.
After his 'Fleetwood Mac' reunion ended in perfect harmony as he and an on-song Tommy Fleetwood thumped Collin Morikawa and Harris English 5&4 in the morning fourballs, he was engulfed in a thrilling fourballs battle where drama was never far away.
It came down to the last putt where the Northern Irishman was millimetres away from giving his side a 6-2 first-day lead. Instead he and Shane Lowry had to settle for a half against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay.
It led to a downturn as they lost the next two holes but a short missed putt by Cantlay on the 14th halted the Americans' charge.
A thrilling match then came down to the final green but McIlroy, after back-to-back birdies on the previous two holes, narrowly missed and the point was halved.
But there was controversy on the 11th hole as McIlroy appeared to gesture towards someone in the crowd as he walked off the 11th green.
He and his partner Lowry had just gone two up when he responded to an unkown comment from the crowd.
That did not take the shine off the day for McIlroy, who was able to reflect on a strong start for Europe, even though his missed putt on the 18th hole stung.
"Obviously right now, I'm disappointed I didn't hole out for a full point," McIlroy said on the 18th green.
"But it's been a great day for Europe. We have come out of the gates really strong like we wanted to."
On the crowd's antics, he added: "It was what we sort of expected. It was rowdy and lively. They made it difficult for us.
"You know, but I felt like Shane and I, we handled that really well and dug in. Made some good swings and good putts when we needed to."
Captain Luke Donald was not aware of the incident on the 11th, but praised the way his team handled the spectators.
"I'm not aware of that," he said. "But you know, I was definitely proud of the guys, how they handled the situation, a tough environment out there."
Jon Rahm was in imperious form as he followed up a foursomes win to combine with Sepp Straka for a convincing 3&2 win success over Scottie Scheffler and JJ Spaun.
Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose came from behind to see off Ben Griffin and Bryson DeChambeau by one hole. A lengthy birdie putt by Fleetwood on the 16th proved crucial in what was a tense tussle that went the full 18 holes.
It was not all plain sailing for Europe, however, as Ludvig Aberg and rookie Rasmus Hojgaard were swept aside 6&5 by Justin Thomas and New Yorker Cameron Young.
That at least gave the Americans something to cling on to after what was a largely demoralising day in which the early enthusiasm of the home fans, even with Trump on hand, was punctured.
Trump arrived after what had been a fairly one-sided foursomes session.
It was the first time Europe had led after the opening morning's play on US soil since 2004.
Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton led the way as they came from behind to beat DeChambeau and Thomas 4&3. McIlroy and Fleetwood then saw off Collin Morikawa and Harris English in convincing fashion 5&4.
Matt Fitzpatrick and Aberg were similarly impressive as they claimed a shock 5&4 win over world No.1 Scheffler and Russell Henley, but there was no foursomes clean sweep as Robert MacIntyre and Vitkor Hovland lost to Xander Schauffele and Cantlay by two holes.
Scheffler had the worst first day by a top-ranked player since Tiger Woods, losing both of his matches in foursomes.
By himself, Scheffler is winning more often than anyone in golf. But his teams were behind nearly throughout both his matches on Friday.
"We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities," Scheffler said. "It really just came down to me not holing enough putts. We put up a good fight at the end."
with AP
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