FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas will face Jon Rahm of Spain and Tyrrell Hatton of England in the opening foursomes match of the Ryder Cup on Friday at Bethpage Black.
United States team captain Keegan Bradley and Team Europe captain Luke Donald revealed their first lineups of the competition Thursday afternoon — not at the usual opening ceremony, which was moved up a day due to stormy weather, but in a Golf Channel interview.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will team with Russell Henley in the second foursomes match against Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick; five-time major champion Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland will partner with FedEx Cup winner Tommy Fleetwood of England against Collin Morikawa and Harris English.
The final foursome of the session pits Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay for the United States against Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
Rahm and Hatton opened the 2023 Ryder Cup with a Friday morning foursomes win over Scheffler and Sam Burns, 4 and 3. That launched a 4-0 sweep in the opening session that propelled Team Europe to a five-point victory. Rahm and Hatton went 2-0 as foursomes partners in Rome.
“I like Jon as a leader going off first with Tyrrell,” Donald said. “They have been a very strong partnership. Jon, 4-0 I think, in foursomes over his history and 2-0 with Tyrrell. It’s a strong start for us, and we’ll need it.”
Meanwhile, DeChambeau figures to be one of the most popular figures on the course this week and should fire up the partisan crowd at the 7:10 a.m. tee time.
“Bryson thrives under this sort of atmosphere,” Bradley said. “For me when I would go out on these first tees, I would be very nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I see Bryson and I can see him walking out there just relishing the moment and relishing the chance to get up there and hit that shot.”
One all-new pairing is that of Morikawa and English, neither of whom drive the ball especially far.
“Collin Morikawa is one of the best ball-strikers in the world,” Bradley said. “Harris is an incredible putter. We really felt like they complemented each other. They have similar demeanors and they really like each other and they are extreme competitors. They relish the opportunity to play together.”
Schauffele and Cantlay have partnered a number of times in team competitions and are 7-6 across Ryder and Presidents Cups, including 6-3 in the foursomes format.
“We’re sort of the anchor match there,” Schauffele told reporters. “We’re really pumped with the three groups we have in front of us, and those boys are going to get to work, and all we’re trying to do is get our point and focus on us, so get comfortable quickly, get the fans into it quickly, and yeah, get that point.”
Foursomes format features each pairing playing the same ball while alternating shots. It’s considered the more difficult team match-play format.
The pairings Europe is beginning with on Friday are a combined 30-15-2 in Ryder Cup foursomes, while the United States pairings are 8-13-0.
On the bench for the first session are Burns, J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin and Cameron Young for the United States and Englishman Justin Rose, Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard, Irishman Shane Lowry and Austrian Sepp Straka for Europe.
They’ll have a chance to be utilized Friday afternoon when the format switches to fourball, also known as best ball.
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
