The two Ryder Cup captains announced their first set of pairings Thursday afternoon. Needless to say, the first tee is going to be electric at the Bethpage State Park Black Course Friday morning.
At 7:10 a.m., local time, when the first group of foursomes tees off, the United States is going to pair Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas as the initial group. They will face Europe's Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton from Team England. Rahm and Hatton were 2-0 in this alternative shot format two years ago in Rome.
United States captain Keegan Bradley clearly wants to get the crowd roaring first thing in the morning. DeChambeau is not only one of the country's best golfers, but he is perhaps the most revered player in the sport by American fans. He puts on a good show for the crowd. Thomas, meanwhile, got the crowd revved up at Whistling Straits four years ago when he shotgunned a beer on the first tee.
Keegan Bradley is following up the first pair with Ryder Cup rookie Russell Henley and the world's No. 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler. Henley is one of four rookies on the United States team, but is the only one playing in foursomes Friday morning. Henley is comfortable playing with Scheffler as the two are great friends off of the course.
Henley is no stranger to international competition; however, he went 3-1 at the Presidents Cup last year.
The European team's strongest pairing is in the third group. which will tee off at 7:42 a.m. Rory McIlroy, the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world, is going to partner with Tommy Lockwood. They will take on Collin Morikawa and Harris English. McIlroy and Lockwood played together in Rome during the 2024 Ryder Cup and won both of their matches.
This is going to be a match which should be closed out early. It does not look good on paper and it will probably be worse on the golf course. McIlroy is a career Grand Slam winner and Lockwood is coming off of a very strong season on Tour.
Morikawa is coming into this Ryder Cup playing the worst golf of his career and is inconsistent around the greens. English has a solid short game, and he will clearly need to clean up for Morikawa if the United States is going to salvage any hope in that match not ending early.
The announcement of the pairings is traditionally announced at the Opening Ceremony, but the schedule was changed due to inclement weather in the area. Therefore, the Opening Ceremony was held on Wednesday afternoon, and the announcement of the first set of pairings was made late Thursday afternoon.
The rain fell on Bethpage Wednesday night and into Thursday, but it did not stop the players from getting a few holes of practice under their belts.