The Saturday of a golf tournament is usually called ‘Moving Day’ and USA will hope that is the case for them in the Ryder Cup when they bid to launch a comeback after an absolutely shocking opening day on Friday.
The format for Saturday is the same as it was on Friday so the morning session will contain four foursomes matches and the afternoon play will be made up of four fourballs matches. Time restrictions will deny us the chance to look at the afternoon but we’ll preview the morning once again. Europe begin the session 6.5-1.5 ahead.
Rory McIlroy & Tommy Fleetwood vs Justin Thomas & Jordan Spieth
Match tees off at 06.35 BST
The opening match of what feels like a pivotal Saturday morning session sees two marquee pairings out onto the golf course as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood go out against Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth.
McIlroy and Fleetwood were paired together on Friday morning when they took down the better foursomes pair of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. They went round in approximately four under par which is excellent golf. I suspect both men could play that well again but I’m less convinced that Thomas and Spieth are going to go round in that sort of score. I had fears for Spieth coming into this event. This course just doesn’t play to any of his strengths and he has recently had a child and hadn’t played since the Tour Championship. Those fears came true when he was out with his own ball on Friday afternoon as across the back nine he barely had his ball in play and Thomas basically played the last six holes on his own. That isn’t an option in foursomes so the much more reliable and solid tee to green combination of McIlroy and Fleetwood can get Europe off to a decent start and 4/5 might look something of a gift unless Spieth has somehow found his game in the 12 hours between rounds, which is unlikely.
Viktor Hovland & Ludvig Aberg vs Scottie Scheffler & Brooks Koepka
Match tees off at 06.50 BST
The second match onto the golf course looks like the pick of the Saturday foursomes matches when the Scandinavian pairing of Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg team up for the second foursomes session in succession when they take on two major champions in Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.
Scheffler and Koepka were a Jon Rahm wonder finish away from securing a point in the fourballs on Friday but it might be that the fourball format suits them best, especially with Scheffler having his putting issues at present. The school of thought was that the same could be said of Hovland and Aberg but they went round in three under in beating Max Homa and Brian Harman on Friday morning. There is a reason Zach Johnson has switched Scheffler’s foursomes partner though and that is because he needs points early on Saturday and I expect the American pairing to be on point here. That isn’t to say that the European pair won’t but we shouldn’t forget how new to big time golf Aberg is. I’m not keen on opposing the Europeans here but I don’t want to get after the Americans either so I’ll leave this one alone.
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Shane Lowry & Sepp Straka vs Max Homa & Brian Harman
Match tees off at 07.05 BST
The third match onto the golf course on Saturday sees two pairings who were out on Friday morning back together and taking each other on when Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka go up against Max Homa and The Open champion Brian Harman.
I have to say there was nothing to like about the Homa and Harman pairing on Friday. I don’t like pairs that don’t have a long hitter anyway because the par 5s here are gettable and there are some drivable par fours as well and surrendering length on those holes catches up with you but there was just no camaraderie between the American duo. They couldn’t even be bothered to walk onto the first tee together, which you would imagine on a Friday morning would be a minimum requirement and it didn’t get much better from there. Lowry and Straka seemed to enjoy partnering each other and revealed that they got the nod a couple of weeks ago that they would be a pairing. They went round under par on Friday and might well come on for the run now that Straka knows what it is all about. The Europeans are the favourites here but I think it is understandable and I am happy to get on them here.
Jon Rahm & Tyrrell Hatton vs Patrick Cantlay & Xander Schauffele
Match tees off at 07.20 BST
The last foursomes match of the 2023 Ryder Cup sees two recognised pairings taking to the golf course as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton pair up again to take on the seasoned duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
The European pairing were dominant against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns on Friday morning but for as good as the Euro duo were it has to be said Burns was absolutely terrible and he soon brought Scheffler towards his level. Both men showed their worth with other partners in the fourballs though and they look in better touch to me than Cantlay and Schauffele. Cantlay was a surprise player to sit out in the afternoon on Friday while Schauffele got his backside given to him alongside Collin Morikawa in the fourballs. I think this is another European win but Cantlay and Schauffele are top class and if they flick a switch with the rust off them I wouldn’t want to be opposing them so I’ll stick with just the two European bets over the course of Saturday.
Tips
Back R.McIlroy & T.Fleetwood to beat J.Thomas & J.Spieth for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
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Back S.Lowry & S.Straka to beat M.Homa & B.Harman for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Boylesports
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