FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald announced their pairings for the Friday morning foursomes and there will be fireworks.
Bradley sent out Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas to fire up the home crowd and Donald countered with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
“They bring a spark to our team,” Bradley said. “They are both fiery players. They are both going to relish the opportunity to lead out our team. They are just two guys that short of thrive in that.”
“I think all of us were in agreement that Bryson needed to be in that first match, and being his partner, I’m very excited that we get to do that together,” Thomas said.
Added DeChambeau, “We’ve got a big responsibility and role. We’re going to be going up against a great team, Rahm and Hatton. They’re a formidable force, but we want to send a message.”
No surprise that Donald sent out the teammates from Legion XIII, who paired well two years ago in Rome.
“They know how to win. They’re a strong partnership. They get along very well. We’re very happy to send them out first,” said Donald, noting that Rahm is undefeated in four foursomes over his history and 2-0 with Hatton.
“We are facing two fantastic, very accomplished players. It will not be easy. They are both players that like to get the crowd going. It will be a very energetic match,” Rahm said. “But I wouldn’t say Tyrrell and I are short of energy ourselves. So I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for both teams.”
The second match features world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Russell Henley, who meshed well at the Presidents Cup last fall, against Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick.
“They play well together and they complement each other really well. Russell is a real steady guy. He’s going to be right there and Scheffler is the same way,” Bradley said. “Scottie’s a leader. He’s the guy that our players look up to and look for leadership. He has a quiet aspect but he’s been an incredible teammate, and again another guy that’s been willing to play with anybody and do whatever it takes to win.”
Added Scheffler: “It’ll be a good match, going up against two great competitors, and should be a lot of fun.”
In doing so, Donald split up the duo of Aberg and Viktor Hovland, who dominated in Rome, including beating Scheffler and Koepka 9 and 7.
“Good mixture of games. I think in foursomes, I like that,” Donald said of Hovland and Fitzpatrick. “I like a little bit of a difference in games to match the golf course, and these two really do match that golf course well.”
“We’ve been playing together a lot the last couple weeks,” Aberg said. “It’s a plan set in place by Luke, and we all trust in that. It’s going to be a lot of fun and looking forward to play some good golf together.”
In the third match Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood face Harris English and Collin Morikawa.
“I feel like we team up well. We’ve kind of been having this pairing for a couple weeks now and been preparing for it, and looking forward to getting out there and doing it,” English said. “Kind of getting some of Europe’s best in Rory and Fleetwood. They’ve played really well together. Looking forward to that matchup.”
McIlroy was looking forward to being reunited with Fleetwood. “Really happy to partner with this guy again,” he said. “Try to get another blue point on the board.”
In the anchor match, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele will try to repeat their match-play magic together against Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre.
“We’ve competed a lot, especially in this alternate shot format, whether in Presidents Cups, Ryder Cups. Leaning on all that experience. We have a lot of fun, and we try to get it in sync as quickly as possible, almost play like one person,” Schauffele said.
Hovland and MacIntyre are another new pairing for Europe, one that Hovland was excited for. “I think our game complements each other’s,” he said. “I think we’ll go out there and really set the tone and hopefully push each other and make some birdies and make it difficult on the other team.”
Sitting out the first session are three American rookies in J.J. Spaun, Cameron Young and Ben Griffin, and second-time Ryder Cupper Sam Burns, who was a captain’s pick.
“The hardest thing of the captaincy so far for me is to figure out how to sit these guys because they are all so good. It not like these teams don’t have role players where they come in for a minute or two. These are All-Stars,” Bradley said.
Donald chose to sit Rasmus Hojgaard, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry.
The 45th Ryder Cup will get under way with the first foursomes match at 7: 10 a.m. ET. Asked what he expected from the crowd on the first tee on Friday, DeChambeau said, “a tsunami of a wave of support.”
How to watch the Ryder Cup on Friday
Sept. 26
- Breakfast at Bethpage, RyderCup.com and Ryder Cup app, 6 a.m. ET to 8 a.m. ET
- Morning foursomes and afternoon fourballs, USA Network, RyderCup.com and Ryder Cup app, 7 a.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET
- Morning foursomes and afternoon fourballs, SiriusXM radio, 7 a.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET
- Live From the Ryder Cup, Golf Channel, 6 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET
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