Sheboygan, Vis. – The United States duo of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth will start the Ryder Cup in Whistling Strait on Friday morning, which will face European teams John Rahm and Sergio Garcia from Spain.
The format of the first session is square, also called alternate shots.
Thomas and Spieth won the 2018 Ryder Cup 3-1 in France. Garcia is the all-time Ryder Cup points leader and Rahm is the No. 1 player in the world. They start at 8:05 ET in the morning.
“Everyone is ready to go at last,” said US captain Steve Streiker. “It’s been three years and you came here on Sunday evening and the practice rounds are great but still Friday is behind your mind and you are just eager to get out of there and start it.
“I feel great about our pair. Some teams that have played together over the years, be it the Ryder Cup or some President’s Cup, so we’re not going to put them there. If we don’t feel good about them, just let me know how these people are playing and We’re extremely excited about the order in which they’re going out.
The next match is against Americans Dustin Johnson and Colin Morikawa, England’s Paul Casey and Norway’s Victor Howland at 8:21 a.m. Johnson is playing in his fifth Ryder Cup, the most of any American player on the team. He is 7-9 overall. Morikawa is a Ryder Cup rookie who has won two major championships. Casey is playing in his fifth Ryder Cup, while Howland is making his first appearance.
American Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger will face Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick of England. The match will start at 8:53 ET. Koepka, recovering from a left wrist injury, is playing in his third Ryder Cup, while Berger appeared for the first time. Both played in the state of Florida. Westwood is playing in the Ryder Cup for European record-tying for the 11th time. This is the second appearance of Fitzpatrick.
American Xander Chaffell and Patrick Cantley will play against Rory McIlroy and Ian Polter. The match will start at 8:53 ET. Schauffele and Cantlay are both making their Ryder Cup debuts, but they went 2-2 as a team in the 2019 President’s Cup in Melbourne. They were 2-0 at four. McIlroy is performing his sixth and Poulter’s seventh.
European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington took a lot of experience in the opening session and was not surprised to have Rahm in the first group and McIlroy in the last. Both captains said they have plans for a four-ball match in the afternoon and are expected to stick to it without making changes. Although both are not fully committed, players who sit outside in the morning are expected to play in the afternoon.
In the squares, players take alternate shots T shots and then alternate shots until the hole is completed. There are only two balls to play, one for each team, and a hole with the lowest score is won.
Sitting in the first session for the Americans will be Bryson Dechambu, Harris English, Scotty Schaffler and Tony Finau. To sit in Europe will be Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and Bernard Wiesberger.
The four-ball match will be played in the afternoon, the same format will be used on Saturday. There will be 12 singles matches on Sunday for a total of 28 points from the three-day tournament.
Europe have won four of the last five Ryder Cups, as well as five of the last seven. He needs 14 points to retain the trophy, while USA needs 14 points to win.
