Ryder Cup Friday foursomes pairings named: Ian Poulter and Brooks Koepka among headliners

USA v Europe: Ryder Cup 2021 predictions

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Team Europe and Team USA have announced their Ryder Cup pairings for the foursomes matches to take place on Friday. The opening ceremony for the 43rd edition of the biannual tournament was held on Thursday, as captains Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington introduced their players to an adoring crowd at the Whistling Straits venue in Wisconsin.

This year’s Ryder Cup was delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Team Europe are the defending champions, after a seven-point victory at Le Golf National near Paris in 2018.

They have been dominant in recent years and have won seven of the nine editions of the competition held since the turn of the millennium.

But the Americans are favourites to win this time around, as they have the home crowd behind them and boast eight of the current top 10 players in the world among their ranks.

By comparison, the Europeans can only count on one player in the current top 12 – though Spaniard Jon Rahm is the world number one.

JUST IN: Koepka awkwardly sidesteps questions about DeChambeau at Ryder Cup

Four foursome matches and four fourball matches will be played on Friday, and the format is repeated on day two.

Play is scheduled to begin at 1.05pm UK time on both days.

On Sunday, the final day, the team events are over and 12 singles matches are played to decide the final outcome of the competition.

Those singles matches begin at 5.05pm, with each match teeing off at 11-minute intervals. Play is expected to conclude at around 11pm, before a closing ceremony brings an end to the affair.

The winner will be decided by whichever team has managed to amass the most points over the course of the three days.

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At Thursday’s opening ceremony, Team Europe captain Harrington led applause to key workers in the USA and Europe.

The Irishman said: “The Ryder Cup is a special occasion but all things considered, has there ever been the prospect of a Ryder Cup quite as special as this one.

“After all the world has been through these past two years, it is such a joy and a relief to be standing here in front of you today and in front of so many of you.

“I admit there were times where I figured this might not happen. We all lived through this postponement 12 months ago, but even after the match was rescheduled there was talk about whether there would be any fans at all.

“You the fans make the Ryder Cup. We expect fans on both sides to be loud and vocal.

“So together, let’s make this the best Ryder Cup that there has ever been.”

Friday foursomes pairings

There was no place for Bryson DeChambeau in Team USA’s Friday morning pairings, as he was one of four to miss out on the first piece of Ryder Cup 2021 action in the wake of his feud with team-mate Brooks Koepka.

Koepka was included, though, and will team up with Daniel Berger in the third match against Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Meanwhile in match four, and experienced pair of Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter will represent Team Europe against  Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.

Full pairings:

Match 1 (1.05pm tee-off) – Jon Rahm/Sergio Garcia vs Justin Thomas/Jordan Spieth
Match 2 (1.21pm tee-off) – Paul Casey/Viktor Hovland vs Dustin Johnson/Collin Morikawa
Match 3 (1.37pm tee-off) – Lee Westwood/Matt Fitzpatrick vs Brooks Koepka/Daniel Berger
Match 4 (1.53pm tee-off) – Rory McIlroy/Ian Poulter vs Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele

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