FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Hopes for an American comeback dwindled at the 45th Ryder Cup after the Europeans started the second day of matches with another dose of firepower.

With the visitors staked to a 5.5 to 2.5 overnight lead at Bethpage State Park, the U.S. sought to turn the tide and chip away at an early deficit in the second batch of Foursomes matches. A vibrant crowd greeted the home team on the first tee, where Cameron Young and Bryson DeChambeau kicked things off for U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley. But a reliable European backbone that includes Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton flexed their muscle while putting some more blue squares on the scoreboards surrounding the Black Course to lead the U.S. 8.5-3.5 after the Saturday morning session.

The same trend would continue into the afternoon Four-ball despite the Americans' best efforts. All four matches remained close into the back nine as a passionate Bethpage Black crowd would try to will the U.S. Team to a comeback that would never materialize.

The European Team holds an 11.5 to 4.5 lead over the U.S. Team heading into Sunday Singles.

This marks the largest European lead after two days in Ryder Cup history.

Read on for a look at how each of Saturday's matches played out, as Europe inches closer to their first victory on foreign soil since 2012.

SATURDAY P.M. FOUR-BALL

Match 13: 12:25 p.m.: Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry (Europe) def. Justin Thomas/Cameron Young (U.S.), 2-up

Desperate for a turnaround, U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley went back to his most successful pairing of the weekend in Thomas and Young against the premier partnership of McIlroy and Lowry. Young, by far the most in-form American this weekend, went up against McIlroy, undefeated through three sessions at Bethpage, in what would be a match remembered for its incredible emotion and theatrics as much as its stellar play.

Lowry struck the first blow on the par-5 fourth, pouring in a 20-foot eagle to splash blue on the board and erupting in a flurry of exclamations.

He doubled down with an 8-foot birdie at the fifth, vaulting the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans champions 2-up. The Long Island crowd, hungry for any American success to latch onto, gave the duo the full gamut of its heckling, but Lowry and McIlroy relished the role of agitators, chirping back at every chance.

Young, the hottest American this week, wasn’t about to fold. He answered with a 36-foot bomb on the seventh to cut the deficit in half.

Thomas, quiet until then, finally came alive on the ninth, dropping a birdie that leveled the match heading to the back nine.

What followed was a tense stretch of four straight halved holes, punctuated by the Americans having to repeatedly urge the raucous gallery to dial it down. McIlroy finally broke the deadlock on the short par-3 14th with a laser approach and birdie to move Europe back in front. From there, the atmosphere hit a fever pitch, with jeers raining down at nearly every possible opportunity.

Instead of wilting, McIlroy and Lowry thrived on the chaos. They rolled in birdies on the final four holes, returning the crowd everything they had received right back at them after each dagger.

Thomas and Young fought to the end, extending the match to 18, but the Europeans closed it out 2-up to inch another point closer to retaining the Cup.

Afterward, McIlroy called the win “hugely satisfying.”

Match 14: Tommy Fleetwood/Justin Rose (Europe) def. Scottie Scheffler/Bryson DeChambeau (U.S.), 3 and 2

The Europeans were on the board first thanks to a hot start from Rose, who kicked off a front-nine birdie barrage with one at the third and went on to make six birdies on his ball over the first eight holes. The Americans turned the board red briefly on the back of DeChambeau, who won back-to-back holes with an eagle at No. 4 and a birdie at No. 5 to go 1-up.

It wasn’t enough to stop Rose, however, who made seven one putts on the front nine, including walking in a 21-footer on No. 8 for birdie to go back 1-up. Fleetwood got his first hole win of the day at 10, putting the Euros 2-up with a birdie, which DeChambeau answered with a birdie of his own at 11. But Fleetwood clapped back with a birdie at 12 to put them back at 2-up.

Rose put the duo 3-up with at 14, and the sides traded birdies at 15 to extend the match another hole. The Americans ultimately ran out of holes, as both sides made par at 16 and the match ended 3 and 2.

It was the continuation of a rough Ryder Cup skid for world No. 1 Scheffler, who now stands 0-4 personally at Bethpage Black. He came up short again with Russell Henley in Foursomes play earlier in the day, and the American duo also lost their opening Foursomes match Friday. Scheffler dropped a Four-ball match alongside J.J. Spaun on Friday afternoon.

Match 15: 12:57 p.m.: J.J. Spaun/Xander Schauffele (U.S.) def. Jon Rahm/Sepp Straka (Europe), 1-up

The Americans of Spaun and Schauffele battled back from a 2-up deficit on the front nine to take it to the 18th hole at Bethpage Black, where Spaun stepped up when his country needed him most to secure a much-needed birdie and point for the U.S. Team.

The pair of Americans, both San Diego State alumni, would hand Rahm his first loss of the week in a match where they only saw red on the board after the final putt dropped. After going down one early, Schauffele would bring things back level with an eagle on the fourth in what would be his only scoring hole of the match. Straka would put things back in blue with a 12-foot birdie on the seventh, with Rahm doubling the advantage to two with a birdie of his own on nine.

A surprise omission from the morning Foursomes session, Spaun made the difference on the back nine, draining a 42-foot birdie on the par-4 10th to start the turn around.

The U.S. Open champion hit the shot of the day for his country at the par-3 17th, sticking an 8-iron to just outside 3 feet to take the match to the final hole.

Spaun rose to the occasion again to grab the full point on the final green by stuffing a wedge to the front pin to put the pressure on Rahm and Straka.

Rahm drops his first points of the week, and could this be the start of the miracle needed for Bradley’s squad?

Match 16: 1:13 p.m.: Tyrrell Hatton*/Matt Fitzpatrick (Europe) def. Sam Burns/Patrick Cantlay (U.S.), 1-up

The late addition of Hatton looked to be the most interesting moment on the front nine for the final match of Saturday’s play, before the first hole was finally won at the ninth hole.

Fitzpatrick continued his Ryder Cup bounce-back, rolling in a slick downhill putt to put blue on the board. It looked to be a similar back nine with both sides matching scores until Burns showed some much-needed magic, chipping in on the par-3 14th.

It was a spark that ignited the match as both Hatton and Cantlay matched three birdies in a row to take the final game of the day to the 18th hole.

Ultimately, it was the Europeans who capped off a day that will go down in Ryder Cup history.

Fitzpatrick channeled scenes from his U.S. Open victory with another bunker shot of a lifetime before, Hatton slammed the door shut in emphatic fashion nestling his ball next to Fitzpatrick's next to the pin and ending the match 1-up.

SATURDAY A.M. FOURSOMES

Match 9: Bryson DeChambeau/Cameron Young (U.S.) def. Matt Fitzpatrick/Ludvig Åberg (Europe), 4 and 2

New York native Young came out firing in the first match of the morning, throwing a dart into the opening hole to set up a tap-in birdie. Åberg answered immediately by draining a 7-footer to tie, and the tone was set for an early-morning slugfest to open Saturday's session at Bethpage Black.

Ryder Cup rookie Young remained the star of the show for the American side throughout the morning. He chipped in for birdie at the par-3 third, then tacked on a clutch par save at the seventh to give the Americans an advantage. He then stuck his tee shot at the eighth to go 2-up, and the board stayed red for the rest of the match.

DeChambeau’s putter remained rock solid, and a par on the 10th hole was enough to take a 3-up lead for the U.S. pair. The duos traded pars coming down the stretch until Young drained a birdie putt on the 16th hole to seal the deal, good for a 4-and-2 victory and the U.S. Team's only point of the day. The win brought Young's Ryder Cup record to 2-0 after his Four-ball victory on Friday alongside Justin Thomas, making him a bright light in an otherwise dim showing for the U.S. Team thus far.

Match 10: Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood (Europe) def. Harris English/Collin Morikawa (U.S.), 3 and 2

The Europeans ran back one of their most dominant duos for their first point of Saturday Foursomes. Fleetwood and McIlroy — dubbed "Fleetwood Mac" — steamrolled English and Morikawa in Foursomes for the second straight day after a 5-and-4 victory on Friday morning.

The Americans got off to a fast start with a birdie from English on the first hole, but were quickly lapped with four consecutive birdies from the Europeans from hole Nos. 2-5, which included a putt from 30 feet by Fleetwood and 22 feet from McIlroy. Now 2-up in the match, it seemed like the Europeans could not miss. Fleetwood drained a 19-foot par putt on No. 7 and the Americans missed the green on No. 8, leading to a bogey, to fall 4-down. They never recovered. Fleetwood Mac continued their highlight reel, including an approach shot from Fleetwood that rattled the flagstick on the par-4 11th hole and settled a foot away, and the team closed out their win with a 3-foot birdie putt on the 16th green.

Match 11: Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton (Europe) def. Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (U.S.), 3 and 2

Two of the most formidable pairs on their respective sides squared off in Saturday morning Foursomes, and the duel lived up to its billing. Europe struck first, as Rahm rolled in a birdie on No. 1 to put the board blue, followed by a missed 8-footer by Schauffele at the second that quickly stretched the margin to 2-up.

The Americans clawed back with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 fifth, then Cantlay buried a 16-footer on the seventh to even the score and ignite U.S. hopes. But Rahm stole the momentum back in emphatic fashion, chipping in from a tough lie at the par-3 eighth to send the European crowd into a frenzy.

From there, Hatton and Rahm leaned on their putters to keep control. A clutch birdie putt from Hatton at the par-4 12th extended the edge, while missed chances by Schauffele and Cantlay down the stretch left the Americans unable to mount another charge. Europe's steadiest duo closed with a birdie at the 16th, putting away a 3-and-2 victory and delivering another crucial point for Europe, bringing the overall total to 7.5-3.5 in favor of Europe.

Match 12: Robert MacIntyre/Viktor Hovland (Europe) def. Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley (U.S.), 1-up

The anchor match of the morning came down to the wire. Scheffler, chasing redemption from a 0-2 showing on Friday, partnered with Henley for the second straight day in Foursomes against Hovland and MacIntyre, who also lost their Friday Foursomes match.

The Europeans took an early lead when MacIntyre made birdie from 19 feet on the par-4 second hole, then extended their lead to 2-up with another birdie at the par-3 eighth hole. The Americans fought back with a birdie putts from 15 feet from Scheffler on the par-4 11th and 8 feet from Henley on the par-5 13th hole to tie the match, but their progress was immediately reversed when MacIntyre landed his approach shot on the next hole to 5 feet, setting up an easy birdie.

It was the theme of the match: Any momentum from the Americans was immediately squelched, most notably at the par-3 17th hole, when Hovland poured in a 12-foot par putt to maintain Europe's lead. A par on No. 18 sealed Europe's final point in the morning session.