Tiger teaming with Reed; Phil left out of first session
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, FRANCE — Jim Furyk spent four days watching his team play loose and confident, two key ingredients he hopes will allow the Americans to end 25 years without winning the Ryder Cup away from home.
He could only hope that’s what he sees when the shots at Le Golf National really count.
“What would make me nervous?” Furyk said on the eve of the matches. “If I showed up in the morning and guys had a look on their face that made me nervous. I don’t usually see that with this group.”
Flags were raised, anthems were played and the partisan cheers began late Thursday afternoon to signal the end of a hype and anticipation of a Ryder Cup featuring two of the strongest teams the U.S. and Europe have presented at the same time.
Then it was time to play. Furyk chose to send off Ryder Cup rookie Tony Finau and three-time major champion Brooks Koepka in the opening fourballs match early Friday morning against Justin Rose and rookie Jon Rahm. He also broke up the Jordan Spieth-Patrick Reed partnership that had delivered five points in seven matches over the last two Ryder Cups.
Instead, Spieth was paired with one of his best friends, Justin Thomas, a relationship that took root in France more than a decade ago when both wore American colors in the Evian Junior Masters.
Reed gets his hero — Tiger Woods — in the anchor match.
“We both feel like we’re playing well, and we want to go out there and represent our country the best,” said Reed, who in two Ryder Cups has been called “Captain America” because of his fist-pumping, ear-cupping, finger-shushing bravado. “The best way to do that is go out and have some fun and try to play some good golf and do it the right way. And any time you get to tee it up with Big Cat, it’s always fun.” ON TV
Today: Through 1 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday: 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. (Golf Channel), 3 a.m. to 1 p.m. (NBC); Sunday: 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. (NBC).
They play against British Open champion Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood.
Missing from the American lineup is Phil Mickelson, who will sit out the opening session for the first time since his Ryder Cup debut in 1995.
European captain Thomas Bjorn has five Ryder Cup rookies on his side, and four of them were picked to stand on the first tee and hit a shot before a grandstand that looks like it belongs at a football stadium, 72 feet high with a capacity of 6,928, unheard of for a golf tournament.
That starts with Rahm, the latest Spaniard who brings a big game and big emotion to an event that means so much to all of Europe. He was paired with Rose, who has played effectively with Henrik Stenson the last two Ryder Cups.
Both captains delivered the same message: Their teams are so strong that they had loads of options.