SAINT-QUENTIN-en-YVELINES, France — Rookies and fresh pairings are the big theme to the first set of fourball (best ball) matchups in the Ryder Cup, which begins Friday morning at Le Golf National with the US vying to win on the road for the first time in 25 years.
The first match will be Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau against Justin Rose and Jon Rahm. The second match pits Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler against Rory McIlroy and Thorbjorn Olesen. The third features Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas against Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton. And the fourth match is Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed against Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood.
“The fun starts. They get to compete, which is what we’re here for,” US captain Jim Furyk said Thursday.
“This is it,” European captain Thomas Bjorn said. “We stand on the night of this starting. This is the opportunity to stand up and follow in the footsteps of all the great players on this continent. Legends are made in this event.”
Each of the four teams for Europe features at least one rookie, with Rahm, Olesen, Hatton and Fleetwood first-timers. Each of the US pairings features a new team, with none of the four groups having partnered together.
One rookie from each team — Bryson DeChambeau for the US and Alex Noren for Europe — is sitting out the first session.
“There’s a new guy in every group,” Bjorn said. “They’ve been edging to go. They’re just desperate to get out on the golf course, and I wanted to get them out there.”
Of some surprise, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia, two veteran stalwarts for Europe and captain’s picks of Bjorn, are not playing in the first session, nor is veteran Henrik Stenson. It would be a shock if the three are not playing in the afternoon.
Garcia has a standout 19-11-7 career Ryder Cup record, and Poulter is 12-4-2. Those are the two best career records among the European players.
“They’re all difficult to leave out — especially guys that have played in so many,” Bjorn said. “I’m quite sure you’ll see them on the golf course at some point before Sunday. They know what they are and what they represent.”
Phil Mickelson, who’s playing in his 12th Ryder Cup for the US, also is sitting out the first session. He practiced a lot this week with DeChambeau, and they may pair in the afternoon foursomes (alternate shot) session.
“What I have right now is 12 guys committed to anything that it takes in the team room,” Furyk said. “Just because a guy is not playing in [the Friday] morning match doesn’t mean he’s not going to play the next three.
“Phil is 100 percent on board,” Furyk went on. “We had a great talk after a range session [Thursday]. He wants whatever’s best for the team. He feels good about his game, and I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Both captains will announce the afternoon foursomes pairings at the end of the morning session.
Two years ago at Hazeltine, the US set the tone for its 17-11 rout of the Europeans with a 4-0 sweep of the Friday morning fourball session.
“We look at it like a Thursday at a [PGA] Tour event,” Fowler said. “You’re obviously not going to go out and win it on Thursday. You’re not going to go win it in the first session, but you need to put yourself in a position where you’re not kind of behind the 8-ball and trying to play catchup the rest of the way.
“Yeah, getting off to a good start [Friday] morning … being on either side, you don’t want to be down four out of the gate.”
Fowler was delighted with his pairing with Johnson, saying: “We’ve played a bit the last few days and when that pairing was brought up, I didn’t really have a whole lot to say. … No. 1 player in the world, he’s very talented. I think anyone would be kind of stupid to say that they weren’t willing to go to battle with him.”