BOTH RYDER CUP captains have emphasised rotation and refreshment in deciding on their fourballs pairings for the afternoon session at today’s Ryder Cup.
Europe enjoyed a stunning start to the morning’s foursomes, whitewashing their opponents 4-0. In spite of that, European captain Luke Donald has split all of his successful partnerships, with only four of his players returning for the second session.
Having won this morning’s match alongside Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy will return this afternoon alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, who sat out this morning. Fleetwood has been given the afternoon off. They will face Collin Morikawa and Xander Scauffele.
Shane Lowry has also been benched for the second session, as has his partner Sepp Straka.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton return but with different partners: Hatton will go in the first match with Viktor Hovland, while Rahm has been paired with rookie Nicolai Hojgaard.
Another rookie, Robert MacIntyre, will play alongside Justin Rose.
The Americans have benched Sam Burns, Brian Harman, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay, all of whom played poorly in the morning foursomes.
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth – a reliable US partnership – face Hovland and Hatton in the first match, while Brooks Koepka is brought in to partner Scottie Scheffler against Rahm and Hojgaard.
US Open Champion Wyndham Clark plays alongside Max Homa against MacIntyre and Rose, while Morikawa/Schauffele face McIlroy/Fitzpatrick.
The draw means all 24 players will have had action across the first day.
Fourballs draw and times
- 11.25 Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Thomas vs Jordan Spieth
- 11.40 Jon Rahm and Nicolai Hojgaard vs Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka
- 11.55 Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose vs Max Homa and Wyndham Clark
- 12.10 Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick vs Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele
