Europe's Graeme McDowell recovered from a three-hole deficit to defeat Jordan Spieth in their singles encounter at the Ryder Cup this afternoon.

It appeared that McDowell had birdied the opening hole, but his effort lipped out and Spieth rolled in to halve.

That miss appeared to hamper the Northern Irishman's confidence as he registered bogies at holes three and five, as well as a birdie from 21-year-old Spieth at the second, all of which contributed to putting the American 3 Up.

McDowell then recovered to a degree up to the turn, with four holes in succession being halved, while at the tenth a missed five-foot putt from Spieth reduced the arrears to two.

The European also won the next hole courtesy of a mid-range putt to record a birdie as he set about trying to claim an unlikely point.

At 12, the trend continued when Spieth failed to find the hole from four yards out, which leveled up the score with six left to play.

Then, on the very next hole, Spieth sent his tee shot into the rough and his follow-up effort into the bunker, which left McDowell with two putts to take the lead for the first time. His first attempt went within a few inches and Spieth conceded.

Another bogey for Spieth on the 15th - his fourth in six holes - and a subsequent birdie registered by McDowell extended the lead by a further shot with just three left to play.

McDowell had a lengthy putt to win the encounter on the 16th, but just missed, although he only had to wait until the next hole when he halved to secure a 2&1 win.