Ryder Cup Afternoon Four-Ball Pairings: U.S., Europe Both Shake Things Up

The U.S. took it on the chin in the first session of the 2025 Ryder Cup. They'll look to respond in the afternoon.

Jeff Ritter | Sep 26, 2025

Patrick Cantlay played in the opening session and will return in the afternoon with a different partner. / Harry How/Getty Images

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — The first punch of this 45th Ryder Cup has been landed by Europe, courtesy of a shocking 3–1 win in the opening foursomes session here at Bethpage Black.

The question now: how will the U.S. respond?

The pairings for the afternoon four-ball (a.k.a better-ball) session are in. The U.S., as one might expect, is shaking things up in the afternoon. Europe is also coming out with several new player combinations. All four players on both sides who sat out the morning session are playing this afternoon, alongside teammates who played in the morning, meaning there are no repeat groups from the morning foursomes.

2025 Ryder Cup: Day 1, Afternoon Four-Ball Pairings

Match 1: Scottie Scheffler/J.J. Spaun (USA) vs. Jon Rahm/Sepp Straka (Europe), 12:25 p.m.

Match 2: Ben Griffin/Bryson DeChambeau (USA) vs. Tommy Fleetwood/Justin Rose (Europe), 12:41 p.m.

Match 3: Cameron Young/Justin Thomas (USA) vs. Ludvig Aberg/Rasmus Hojgaard (Europe), 12:57 p.m.

Match 4: Sam Burns/Patrick Cantlay (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry (Europe), 1:13 p.m.

Published Sep 26, 2025

JEFF RITTER

Jeff Ritter is the managing director of SI Golf. He has more than 20 years of sports media experience, and previously was the general manager at the Morning Read, where he led that business's growth and joined SI as part of an acquisition in 2022. Earlier in his career he spent more than a decade at SI and Golf Magazine, and his journalism awards include a MIN Magazine Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.