Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Buckle up for a white knuckle Ryde
LET’S cut to the chase and start with my three key predictions for this week’s Ryder Cup.
I’m backing Jon Rahm to be Europe’s highest points winner, Justin Thomas to be leading American and Team USA to come out on top.
I could end up with egg on my face, of course – that’s the perilous beauty of punditry.
But whatever happens, we’re set for an enthralling three days at Le Golf National, a stadium course that will provide a superb stage for a shootout that never fails to thrill.
The USA are odds on favourites for very good reason – they arrive in France with their highest ranked team in Ryder Cup history.
Five Americans, including Dustin Johnson, are inside the world’s top 10.
They are also defending champions and are bolstered by a resurgent Tiger Woods, so everything points towards a big week.
Team USA boasts several natural pairings in Fowler/ Thomas, Spieth/reed, Tiger/ Dechambeau, Mickelson/ Simpson and Johnson/finau.
That leaves Brooks Koepka and Bubba Watson floating – two players with four majors between them – which tells you the depth of their panel.
Can you make a case for Europe? Of course.
We have several star names and our five rookies are rookies in name only.
Tommy Fleetwood is reigning Race to Dubai champion, Jon Rahm is the most exciting Spanish talent since Seve and Thorbjorn Olesen is statistically the best closer in golf.
Tyrrell Hatton is tailor made for a fist-pumping Ryder Cup, while Alex Noren won the French Open champion and is a putter of the highest quality.
The European tail has never been more dynamic and outside of Olesen, they all play in the States so they’ll be very comfortable facing American opposition.
Europe is also loaded at the top end, where we can call upon Justin Rose and Rory Mcilroy, with the Holywood star eager to prove he has learned from his 2016 defeat to Patrick Reed.
Elsewhere, Ian ‘Postman’ Poulter has a history of delivering, Henrik Stenson is an ice cold competitor and Francesco Molino1 nari is the 2018 champion golfer of the year.
Add in Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia, making his ninth Ryder Cup appearance, and there’s every chance Europe can upset the odds.
The battle between the captains will be equally fascinating, because Furyk and Thomas Bjorn have very different styles.
Thomas is more emotional and it’ll be interesting to see if he opts to lead his players or gives them licence to play as individuals.
Getting that balance right could be key to our prospects.
Furyk is calm and calculated, but will this inspire the mix of personalities at his disposal?
Time will tell. It’s set up for a gripping three days.