Titanic tussle at the top as Rahm and Scheffler lead out the singles at Marco Simone

World numbers one and three will square off in the opening match of Sunday’s singles ties at Rome’s Marco Simone Golf Club, with Europe taking a healthy five-point advantage into the final day.

Number three ranked Jon Rahm and world number one Scottie Scheffler both sat out Saturday’s afternoon fourball matches, but they’ve been chosen to lead out their respective sides as Europe have top-loaded their order to try and get victory secured early.

Match number two sees Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa go head-to-head, just like they did at Whistling Straits back in 2021, with each earning a half-point on the day.

Justin Rose takes on Patrick Cantlay in match number three, with Rory McIlroy facing reigning WGC Matchplay champion Sam Burns in match number four. McIlroy’s hopes of a perfect 5-0-0 record were dashed by Cantlay’s three closing birdies in Saturday’s fourball session, with Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava, who caddied for Tiger Woods in his memorable 2019 Masters win, getting under McIlroy’s skin with his celebrations whilst Rory still had a putt for the tie.

Hopes for a McIlroy-Cantlay singles matchup haven’t borne fruit, but playing in consecutive groups, there may yet be choice words exchanged should they cross paths on Sunday.

Shane Lowry goes in the third-to-last match against Jordan Spieth. Both players met in the WGC Matchplay at Austin Country Club in March of this year, with the Offalyman coming out on top and thwarting Spieth’s hopes of topping the group.

Other notable matches include Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg versus Brooks Koepka, with the memories of Aberg and Hovland’s 9&7 thrashing of Koepka and Scheffler in Saturday’s foursomes very much fresh in the mind, and Scot Bob MacIntyre will face Wyndham Clark in the anchor match, though Luke Donald will be hoping that the Ryder Cup’s destiny will be well and truly wrapped up by the time the MacIntyre-Clark match is nearing it’s conclusion.