Why Four Of Steve Stricker's US Ryder Cup Pairings Are Clear To See

The first two practice days have given some clues as to who Steve Stricker will be pairing together...

We're into day three of Ryder Cup week and it looks like four of Steve Stricker's US pairings have been made clear.

Likely US Ryder Cup pairings -

• Spieth and Thomas
• Schauffele and Cantlay
• Johnson and Morikawa
• Koepka and Finau

It's almost certain that we'll see the teams of Spieth/Thomas, Schauffele/Cantlay and Johnson/Morikawa, having assessed the USA's pod system so far.

We can also expect the Koepka/Finau team to return, too.

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were one of the USA's bright sparks from Le Golf National in 2018, where they played all four doubles sessions together and won three points.

Schauffele and Cantlay are very close friends and recently went on holiday with their partners to Napa in California prior to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

They were partnered together at the 2019 Presidents Cup, winning two of their four matches together.

Both of their wins came in the foursomes so it is almost certain that we'll see them play in the foursomes at least.

Cantlay described their friendship whilst speaking to the media.

"So I don't think either of us would have gone out of their way to be friends with each other, but then spending that time together, we realized that we really got along with each other," Cantlay said on Schauffele.

"I think he's incredibly smart, and I think he's incredibly conscientious. He is someone that probably brings out the best in me.

"He's more positive, and he has a way of being more light as opposed to me being serious.

"Yet he's very quiet and reserved, so we kind of have that bond, and yet he balances me out a little bit.

"Taking like the trip to Napa was very natural. It was like, I'd really like to spend time with Xander and Maya. That's kind of how that came about."

Another pairing we look set to see is that of Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa.

They played with Schauffele and Cantlay on day one and were once again playing together on day two.

The duo know each other well due to their ties with TaylorMade.

Another pairing we look set to see is the return of Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau.

They played in both fourball sessions at the 2018 Ryder Cup, winning one and losing one, and were Jim Furyk's choice to lead the team out on the opening day.

Related: What you get for being a Ryder Cup player

There are, of course, a number of other pairings we'll see on the US side, including the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Harris English and Daniel Berger.

We did notice DeChambeau and Scheffler playing together on day one, whilst Berger and English were playing together.

However, on day two, DeChambeau was in a group with English whilst Scheffler was in a group with Berger.

We expect to see these four together in some form during the first two days.