The Ryder Cup gets underway on Friday and it does so with a morning session of foursomes matches before an afternoon session of fourballs on what is a pretty busy opening day at Whistling Straits, one we’ve waited three years for.
There are four foursome matches with the order now released for those before four more afternoon fourballs matches where the order of play comes out later in the day. Time restrictions will deny us the chance to preview those but we’ll go through the foursomes here.
Justin Thomas & Jordan Spieth vs Jon Rahm & Sergio Garcia
Match tees off at 13.05 BST
The opening match of the 2021 Ryder Cup sees both teams putting out their strongest pairings in a bid to get colour on the board for their side early as Justin Thomas and Justin Thomas take on Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia in a cracking contest.
Spieth and Thomas were paired together in 2018 and went 3-1 for their four outings so it is no surprise that Steve Stricker has put them out again. The one concern over the pairing would be the lack of length of Spieth. His driving isn’t the best either whereas the Thomas putter hasn’t been cooperating for a while so although they blend well together as friends they have a bit of form to find. My instinct tells me that the Spaniard pair will go really well here. Garcia has a wonderful foursomes record and Rahm is one of the most consistent players in golf right now and should be even better in this environment. I can’t bring myself to take on Spieth and Thomas though so I’ll watch and enjoy this one.
Dustin Johnson & Collin Morikawa vs Paul Casey & Viktor Hovland
Match tees off at 13.21 BST
The second match onto the golf course sees two major champions representing America when Dustin Johnson and the reigning Open champion Collin Morikawa goes out against the experienced Paul Casey and the rookie Viktor Hovland.
There are plenty of European hopes for Hovland and he might well be inspired this week but the pairing of him and Casey doesn’t really inspire me. Casey is solid but he’s not the longest and doesn’t excel in any area and while Hovland is a terrific ball striker he is more miss than hit with the putter and that is a big issue for me. I think the Johnson and Morikawa pairing matchup so well to this golf course as a foursome pairing. There are three par 3s which are on the odd numbered holes and Morikawa is the best iron player in the game, while a number of the longer holes or drivable holes are even ones which brings the insane driving ability of Johnson into play. Those two have played practice rounds together all week and assuming they both play well I expect them to do a bit of a job on Casey and Hovland here.
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Brooks Koepka & Daniel Berger vs Lee Westwood & Matthew Fitzpatrick
Match tees off at 13.37 BST
The third match out onto the golf course sees the two pairs which surprised most judges going out against each other when Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger take on the English duo of Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick who know each other very well, which might be important over the course of the round.
Stricker claimed in a press conference that Koepka and Berger play well together and seemed to intimate that they had played a lot of golf together. He paired them up in a foursomes match as captain in the 2017 Presidents Cup but they lost that match 3&1 to the South African pair of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace. With injury doubts over Koepka and form concerns with Berger I’m not convinced they’ll be the pair Stricker thinks they will be. The English duo look a good pairing. The fact that Fitzpatrick’s caddy has caddied for Westwood should help with the cohesiveness between the two men and they shape up well. Both men are excellent drivers of a golf ball and decent into the greens. Westwood can be a bit hit and miss in that department but so can Koepka and Berger. I don’t like this US pairing and I fancy Europe claim the point here.
Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele vs Rory McIlroy & Ian Poulter
Match tees off at 13.53 BST
The final match of the morning session sees two more solid looking pairings out onto the golf course when Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele take on the pair who started the turnaround in Medinah nine years ago in Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter.
Nobody would have been surprised that Cantlay and Schauffele have been paired together. They are good friends and are a natural fit, particularly in this format of the game with both excellent drivers and who have no real weakness. McIlroy and Poulter blend well together too but when Thomas Bjorn paired them together in Paris three years ago they were turned over quite convincingly. I do expect them to go well here but as my outright previews have suggested I’m very keen on this American pairing and I’m certainly not opposing them here. I am invested enough in Cantlay that I don’t need to take them here though.
Tips
Back D.Johnson & C.Morikawa to beat P.Casey & V.Hovland for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back them here:
Back L.Westwood & M.Fitzpatrick to beat B.Koepka & D.Berger for a 2/10 stake at 2.75 with Bet365
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