Ryder Cup Day 1 Matches: Friday Foursomes Pairings Revealed

20 MINUTES AWAY

We are just 20 minutes away from finding out who will be featuring in the foursomes on Friday morning, with Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald announcing their four pairings.

POSSIBLE PAIRINGS

The European team hasn't changed a lot since 2023, with Rasmus Hojgaard coming in for his twin brother Nicolai. The US side, meanwhile, have six changes, with four rookies featuring at Bethpage Black.

Certainly, on the European team, we will likely see similar pairings to that of 2023, where they claimed a 7-1 result over both foursomes sessions. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton led the charge, while Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy were also undefeated that week.

On the US side, Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley have been paired together at the Presidents Cup in 2024, while Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have featured together at numerous Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups.

WHO WILL BRADLEY PICK?

Personally, I feel two foursomes pairings are guaranteed in Scheffler/Henley and Schauffele/Cantlay, which leaves two spots available.

Bryson DeChambeau, Ben Griffin, Justin Thomas and Cameron Young have been paired together a few times this week in the practice rounds, which gives a good indicator of what direction Bradley could go down.

DeChambeau and Young would be a bumper pairing, with the duo using the same golf Titleist prototype golf ball. Thomas and Griffin's games match up well, so could potentially be the final pairing on Friday morning.

HERE WE GO

The time has come to find out who will be featuring in the foursomes!

BRADLEY AND DONALD IN THE BUILDING

The US and European captains are in the building, we are just minutes away from finding out the first matches...

FIRST MATCH

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will lead off Team Europe against Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas. A huge opening match!

SECOND MATCH

Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick will play Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley.

THIRD MATCH

Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood will play Collin Morikawa and Harris English.

FOURTH MATCH

Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland will face off against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

SOME HUGE MATCHES

DeChambeau and Thomas will lead out the US side against Rahm and Hatton in a bumper first match.

Behind them will be World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley against Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Game three is another belter, as Collin Morikawa and Harris English take on the undefeated pairing of Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood

The final match of the morning will be Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who will face Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland.

MORNING FOURSOMES

CAN RAHM CONTINUE HIS UNDEFEATED STREAK?

Rahm and Hatton were undefeated in foursomes in 2023, with Rahm possessing a 100% record in the format.

Claiming two points from two in Rome, he also secured two points from two at Whistling Straits alongside fellow countryman Sergio Garcia.

Will his 100% record continue against DeChambeau and Thomas?

SCHEDULE FOR TOMORROW

BRADLEY SENDS BRYSON OUT FIRST

"Beside the fact they are phenomenal players and bring a spark to our team, Bryson has been an incredible teammate in the locker room and we want him to lead our team out with Justin in the first match.

"With foursomes you have to factor in personalities. The analytical data is super important and useful... Everyone wanted to play with each other and we had to narrow it down because of how willing everybody was to play with each other."

HOME HERO DOESN'T START

Cameron Young grew up in New York and had been predicted to feature in the foursomes. Instead, he will feature in the afternoon fourballs.

Speaking about Young, Bradley stated: "Four people have to sit out every session and, coming into my captaincy, that was the hardest thing. As a player, you come in and you're told your partner and session and you don't really realize what goes into every pairing.

"It's difficult to have people sit out, but everyone on our team is willing to do what is best for the team."

"IT'S THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE" - KEEGAN BRADLEY ON US RYDER CUP CAPTAINCY

SOME CHANGES MADE TO TEAM EUROPE

Rahm/Hatton and McIlroy/Fleetwood remain the same from 2023, with Ludvig Aberg/Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland/Robert MacIntyre the two new pairings.

Speaking about the changes from Rome, Donald stated: "Rome was two years ago. Players evolve and change. You have to look at personality match-ups. We have so many options that it's quite fun for me as a captain.

"The US are going to be strong. They are strong in foursomes and we wanted to bring our best as well. This we feel is our best."

RAHM AND HATTON LEADING THE LINE

ROSEY GETTING PUMPED UP

FRIDAY 26th FOURSOMES

• 7:10am: Match 1: DeChambeau/Thomas (USA) vs Rahm/Hatton (EUR)
• 7:26am: Match 2: Scheffler/Henley (USA) vs Aberg/Fitzpatrick (EUR)
• 7:42am: Match 3: Morikawa/English (USA) vs McIlroy/Fleetwood (EUR)
• 7:58am: Match 4: Schauffele/Cantlay (USA) vs MacIntyre/Hovland (EUR)

FRIDAY 26th FOURBALLS

• 12:25pm: Match 5: TBA
• 12:41pm: Match 6: TBA
• 12:57pm: Match 7: TBA
• 1:13pm: Match 8: TBA

RORY & TOMMY

WHO WILL MISS OUT ON THE MORNING SESSION?

As 16 of the 24 players tee it up on Friday morning, a total of eight players won't be featuring.

On the American side, Cameron Young, Ben Griffin, JJ Spaun and Sam Burns will sit the session out.

Europe-wise, Justin Rose, Nicolai Hojgaard, Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry will have to wait until the afternoon to feature.

WHO WILL BE FAVORITES ON FRIDAY?

Out of the four foursomes matches, you would argue that the US and Europe are favorites in one match a piece.

The first and final games will be key on Friday morning but, overall, you feel a 2-2 session could be on the cards in New York.

FANS LEFT CONFUSED

Obviously, the headlines surround the opening match, but one pairing that has left fans confused is the duo of Collin Morikawa and Harris English.

According to Data Golf, the duo are ranked as the worst pairing out of every single foursomes team that can be made up from the USA's 12 men. Out of 132 possible foursomes duos, they rank 132nd in the rankings' Optimal Pairings list for the US side.

WHAT IS FOURSOMES?

The pairings are revealed for the foursomes, but what exactly is the format and how does it work?

Well, it works by the pair playing with one golf ball, taking alternate shots from the tee all the way to the putt being holed. This process is then repeated throughout the round, with one player teeing off on all the even-numbered holes and the other on the odd-numbered holes.

This tactical decision is made by players prior to the round, and cannot be changed once started.

THE WAIT IS OVER

Well, as I bid you farewell, it's just over 12 hours until the first tee shot is struck at Bethpage Black on Friday morning.

Will Team Europe retain the trophy, or will Team USA secure a third straight Ryder Cup on home soil?

It's set-up to be an epic and we will be covering every second of it at Golf Monthly...