Viktor Hovland took Europe one step closer to victory at the Ryder Cup after claiming the first point of Sunday's singles matches at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

Norwegian Hovland, who has claimed to be the most in-form golfer in the world, cruised to a 4-and-3 win against Collin Morikawa to move Europe into an 11.5-5.5 lead.

His third win at this year's event means that Luke Donald's team now only needs three points from the remaining 11 matches in order to claim their seventh straight home Ryder Cup triumph.

Europe were favorites heading into Sunday's climax as they led by five after the second day and no team has ever overcome a more than four-point deficit at that point.

However, the USA is making a bold attempt to win the trophy on European soil for the first since 1993 as they lead in six matches.

Rory McIlroy is comfortably leading Sam Burns by three through 13 and looks poised to put another point on the board for Europe.