Ryder Cup Pairings Announced


The two captains of the American and European Ryder Cup teams, Tom Watson and Paul McGinley, have announced the pairings for the opening session of the 2014 Ryder Cup. The biennial competition starts Friday at Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.

The morning four-ball (best-ball) session will be followed by foursomes (alternate-shot); these formats will be repeated Saturday, with the Ryder Cup concluding with 12 singles matches on Sunday.

Because there are only four four-ball and four foursome matches, a quartet of players on each side will have to sit out. The pairings for Friday's foursomes will be determined by the captains following the opening session.

Here's the schedule for Friday morning (times indicate coverage air times on the Golf Channel):

Match 1: 2:35 a.m. ET
United States: Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson
Europe: Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson

Match 2: 2:50 a.m. ET
United States: Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler
Europe: Thomas Bjorn and Martin Kaymer

Match 3: 3:05 a.m. ET
United States: Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed
Europe: Stephen Gallacher and Ian Poulter

Match 4: 3:20 a.m. ET
United States: Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson
Europe: Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy

The Americans will sit Hunter Mahan, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar in the opening session, while Jamie Donaldson, Lee Westwood, Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell will rest for the European squad.

"You look at some scenarios that could be special for the opening matches," Tom Watson said of getting Ryder Cup rookies Walker, Spieth and Reed involved in the first round. "They've been playing some practice rounds together. I told them today, I'm going to throw you in the ocean without a life preserver."

"I see a lot of experience at the top and bottom and three rookies in the middle two groups," McGinley added. "[The U.S. has] a very similar mind-set to ours in terms of world rankings."

For a video of the captains and the announcement of their opening-session pairings, visit http://www.rydercup.com/usa/?atrack=hp_page_1.