Advantage, Europe: U.S. Lineup for Opening Ryder Cup Session is a Head-Scratcher

ROME — "Surprise" was what a quick view of the Ryder Cup's opening foursomes pairings produced at Thursday's the opening ceremonies.

But even after a deep dive into the session, the pairings were still shocking. The U.S. ignoring a solid pairing of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas? Putting Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns out while at least one of them struggling on the greens?

The U.S. has one repeat pairing in foursomes from the 2021 winning team: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. The other three are a coin flip, but each has a surprising aspect to them.

Scheffler and Burns are out first Friday morning and while Scheffler’s the top-ranked player in the world, his putter is balky at best.

Even though U.S. captain Zach Johnson picked Scheffler’s good friend Burns as his partner, it was beyond surprising that a player ranked 151st in strokes-gained putting on the PGA Tour would play in foursomes.

Add in the fact that Europe put out Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton to lead, two players with a gladiator-like mentality, and the home team feels like a favorite in the first match.

“Obviously we're very confident in putting Scottie and Sam out,” Johnson said. “You've got some experience in there, and you've got some chemistry in there as well. Those guys want to get after it, and I'm confident that they can do that.”

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European captain Luke Donald disregarded chemistry and instead produced cold, hard facts for his opening-match selection.

“They're both world-class players, to start, both fantastic ball strikers,” Donald said. “They are very passionate. I think Jon feeds off a playing partner with similar kind of fire and passion. He wants to feel like he's out there with a teammate that's really engaged with him. Tyrrell really fits that bill.”

The Scandinavian duo of Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg versus British Open champion Brian Harman and Max Homa may be the most intriguing match. That's two U.S. rookies together, another rookie in Aberg and Hovland, who is 0-2-0 in Ryder Cup foursomes.

What about those partnerships make sense to either captain?

Harman is tenacious and the thought must be the Scandinavians will bond on the course.

“The few tournaments he played on the PGA Tour, he was the No. 1 driver in all of golf, ahead of Rory McIlroy, ahead of Scottie Scheffler in the rankings,” Donald said of Aberg. “We know driving is important this week and in foursomes, if you're in the short stuff, it's going to make life a lot easier.”

In the third pairing, Rickie Fowler, with a foursomes record of 1-3-2, and Collin Morikawa face two rookies in foursomes in Ireland's Shane Shane Lowry and Austria's Sepp Straka.

Lowry played in the 2021 Ryder Cup, but not in foursomes.

Only Morikawa with a 2-0-0 record has some positive vibes from what many call alternate shot.

“Alternate shots are kind of my favorite of the formats just because I feel that it really demands play out of both of the guys,” Fowler said. “Playing alongside Collin, we're going to have a good time. It will bring out the best in us. It's fun to be part of the morning and see if we can get things rolling.”

The last pairing of Cantlay and Schauffele versus Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood is formidable on both sides. The American duo is undefeated, having a 2-0-0 record in 2021 at Whistling Straits, while the European pairing was developed over the last three days and Fleetwood's propensity for solid foursomes play (2-0-0 in France in 2018) factored in.

It hard to provide an edge in this match because both sides can score. But will this match prove crucial for the U.S. to salvage the session?

Give the Europeans the edge on this opening morning. The captain certainly wouldn't disagree.

“I would say they're very fearless, they're extremely good golfers,” Donald said about his team. “We've had a great few days together. The atmosphere in the team room is fantastic. Everyone is in good spirits. They're motivated. There's a lot of good energy. Everyone feels like they're playing well. So I'm very excited.”