Ryder Cup 2023 LIVE: Score updates from Europe v USA on Day 2

Thomas plays a nice wedge shot to about 10 feet, so Spieth and McIlroy will have similar putts – but the US have played an extra shot.

Back on the tee, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland have arrived. Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka are on their way.

Spieth has 154 yards to the pin, which is tucked on the right side of this first green, and he will play first. Fleetwood will have only 125 yards, and from the left his angle is much better to attack the flag.

After a typically long conversation with his caddie, Spieth maps out his little lay-up, which finds the first cut about 50 yards short of the green.

Now Fleetwood: it’s brilliant, launched into the middle of the green, and McIlroy will have a putt of perhaps 10 feet for birdie.

Thomas over-fades his drive and finds the rough on the right-hand side. Up steps Rory McIlroy… and he over-draws his a touch, finding the rough on the left. Europe’s ball looks a little more forgiving. Off they march.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are met with boos from the curved grandstand as they arrive on the first tee. McIlroy and Fleetwood are introduced to a ferocious roar and chants of “Europe! Europe!”. It’s nearly time. Justin Thomas will kick us off.

The players are out on the first tee, surrounded by another incredible atmosphere this morning. Luke Donald has just led a thunderclap…

We are less than 10 minutes from the opening tee shot at Marco Simone.

Here’s a closer look at that moment, surrounded by 5,000 delerious fans, by Jack Rathborn:

A reminder of this morning’s tee times and pairings:

6:35am Foursomes match 1: Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy vs Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth

6:50am Foursomes match 2: Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg vs Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

7:05am Foursomes match 3: Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka vs Max Homa and Brian Harman

7:20am Foursomes match 4: Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton vs Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay

American captain Zach Johnson said illness may have affected his players after Team USA failed to register a single win in the opening eight matches for the first time in Ryder Cup history.

Europe swept to an historic 4-0 lead in the morning foursomes, before claiming another win and three ties in the afternoon fourballs to hold a 6½ – 1½ advantage overnight.

“We’ve got some congestion and some signs [of illness],” Johnson said. “Things like that are unfortunate, sometimes the energy is a little low. But the ability and desire to go out and play is still there. Every one of them wants to play every match.”

A closer look at Europe’s Scandinavian pairing in match two:

“Golf is easy when you’re playing with The Stud,” said Viktor Hovland at the end of his morning foursomes match, glancing up admiringly at his teammate. The Stud is Ludvig Aberg, the 23-year-old Swedish Ryder Cup rookie tipped to be the sport’s next big thing. He is tall and slender, with chiseled features, sunken eyes and a disarming smile. And Hovland is right: he makes golf seem easy.

Aberg has been a professional for only four months and has not yet played a major. He didn’t even make the top-four most recognisable faces in their foursomes match against America’s Max Homa and Brian Harman, with Novak Djokovic trailing them around Marco Simone Golf Club. But after an edgy start – “I was very nervous,” Aberg later admitted, and his legs turned to jelly “multiple times” – he soon settled into his Ryder Cup debut.

The fans have just been let into the grounds here at Marco Simone Golf Club, and there is plenty of noise being made already as McIlroy and Fleetwood work on the driving range in front of a packed stand of fans. Less than half an hour until it gets back under way…