All Eyes on Reed-Woods Pairing at Ryder Cup
INSIDE THE PGA TOUR
2018 Ryder Cup preview
The 42nd playing of the Ryder Cup comes to Le Golf National in Paris, France for one of the most anticipated showdowns in Ryder Cup history between the U.S. and European teams.
GUYANCOURT, France – Tiger Woods has been paired with Patrick Reed in the opening Four-ball session of the Ryder Cup, breaking up the equal best team in American Ryder Cup history.
Coming off his win at the TOUR Championship, Woods joins Masters champion Reed – nicknamed Captain America for his heroics in his first two Ryder Cups – in the anchor slot of the morning session.
They will play against Open Champion Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood.
Reed had previously been part of an ominous duo with Jordan Spieth who combined for a 4-1-2 over the 2014 and 2016 Ryder Cups in team play and with their five total points sit tied with Arnold Palmer and Gardner Dickinson as the greatest teams in USA Ryder Cup history.
The pair have also combined to be 4-0-1 in Presidents Cup team play.
“With Tiger and Patrick and Jordan and J.T. we kind of looked at our options,” American captain Jim Furyk said.
“We had one very good pairing. I think we came out of it with two very good pairings. The idea was to double up and try to get two.
“Patrick's a guy that really enjoys that moment and enjoys that big stage, and Tiger's the one that brings it. We thought it would be a good pair.”
Furyk pointed to the chemistry between Woods and Reed, even at the last Ryder Cup where Woods played the role of vice-captain while injured, as a major factor.
“It's going to be fun for both of us. We've been looking forward to teaming up and doing something like this together,” Woods said.
“We finally have our opportunity to go against two great competitors. One is The Open Champion, and Tommy's played obviously extremely well and very consistently all year.”
Furyk didn’t rule out the Spieth Reed team getting back together over the three days with confirmation they remain part of a four-man pod with Justin Thomas and Woods.
Thomas and Spieth will play together against Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton.
Reed clearly had no problem getting a new partner.
“Any time you get to tee it up with Big Cat, it's always fun,” Reed said.
“It's going to be energetic. We look to anchor the team tomorrow morning and get going and hopefully start things off right.”
BJORN PUTS EARLY FAITH IN ROOKIES
European captain Thomas Bjorn raised some eyebrows with his morning Four-ball selections, sending four of his five rookies out into the cauldron in France.
Along with Fleetwood, Jon Rahm will join Justin Rose in the opening match against Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau; Thorbjorn Olesen teams up with Rory McIlroy against Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler and Tyrrell Hatton joins Paul Casey to take on Spieth and Justin Thomas.
“They have been just itching to go, especially Thorbjørn and Jon and Tyrrell, they are just really desperate to get out on that golf course. I wanted to get them out there,” Bjorn said.
Rahm has the added pressure and privilege of being in the opening match.
“Jon wants to be out there. He wants to have a responsibility,” Bjorn added.
“It’s not every rookie in the world, you take and put them on the first tee in the first match of The Ryder Cup, but this one is pretty special.”
Bjorn drew from personal experience. He was asked to sit out the entire first day of his Ryder Cup debut in 1997 and remembered how difficult that was.
“You work so hard for so long to get in the team, and you want to be out on that golf course, and that's how you are as a player,” Bjorn said.
“When you look at this group of guys that's come into this team they are really hard competitors, and I believe in them so much. And I wanted to give them that responsibility of standing up and go out there and enjoy it.
“I just don't think there's any weaknesses on this team, and that kind of makes me really happy, but it also makes the decisions very difficult.”
VETERANS SIT ON BOTH SIDES
A combined 33 Ryder Cups and 133 matches of experience will be riding the pine in the morning Four-ball session in Paris.
American Phil Mickelson will start his 12th Ryder Cup from the bench, forced to wait till at least the afternoon Foursomes to notch up his 46th match.
The 48-year-old currently sits just one match behind Sir Nick Faldo for all-time most in the Ryder Cup.
“Phil is 100 per cent on board. We had a great talk,” USA captain Jim Furyk said of the decision.
“We've played a lot of these team events together. It's special for him to have the opportunity at 48 years old. He wants whatever is best for the team.”
Joining him on the American team to sit out are Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, who have played two and three previous Ryder Cups respectively and rookie Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau and Mickelson are expected to pair up in Foursomes in the afternoon as are Simpson and Watson – who went undefeated as a team in the 2011 Presidents Cup.
The European side surprised plenty by sitting veterans Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia. Rookie Alex Noren, who won the French Open at this venue earlier this year, will also sit out the morning.
“They are all difficult to leave out, especially guys that have played in so many. I'm quite sure that you'll see them on the golf course at some stage before Sunday,” European captain Thomas Bjorn said.
“It's the worst part of being Ryder Cup Captain; it's the picks, and it is leaving guys out for the matches, but that's what makes this event so great.
“We don't go into a room and just draw names out of a hat. I sit with five extremely experienced vice captains, and we have a conversation. I make the decisions in the end, but, we don't just come up with it for fun. We go with what we see and what we feel and what we think is right for this team.”
