How Are The Sunday Singles Pairings Decided At The Ryder Cup?

After two days of foursomes and four-balls action, the Ryder Cup concludes with 12 matches of singles, which will determine the winner of the team event.

On many occasions, the 12 singles matches have effected the outcome of the tournament, with selections made by the captains on Saturday evening following the fourth session.

However, how are the matches decided by the leaders of the respective sides and what factors are taken into consideration?

Well, to begin with, it's worth noting that the captains do not know the order that the opposing captain will send out their men, with the list not shared until Saturday evening.

This can make it difficult to match individuals up against each other but, usually, patterns start to show with choices, as captains will put their strongest and confident players out first to try and get points on the board.

Back in 2023, Luke Donald had Jon Rahm lead the Europeans off, with Zach Johnson opting for World No.1 Scottie Scheffler. After that match, the then FedEx Cup champion, Viktor Hovland, went out second against two-time Major winner Collin Morikawa.

In all seven of his Ryder Cup appearances, Rory McIlroy has been out in the first four matches, leading the European side out first in 2016, 2018 and 2021. It's similar to Scheffler, who was third out in 2021 and first in 2023.

Away from the top section, there are other ways in which captains will decide on their order for the singles matches, one of which is simply asking players their preferences on where they would like to go out.

Some players will prefer heading out in the top section, while some would rather have a later tee time. This factor can be down to their own preferences, or if they were perhaps involved in a tiring afternoon session on Saturday.

One other point is the experience factor, with captains occasionally back loading the lower order with rookies or more experienced players, depending on whether they are maintaining or chasing a lead.

If teams are holding, they will tend to use experience at the end to get them over the line. On the opposite end, and chasing a lead, they will use the experience at the front to try and get a strong start, using it as inspiration to fire up the more inexperienced players.