Captains face crucial calls in pairings battle
However, when the actions tees off on Friday what happened in Atlanta will seem irrelevant.
The thoughts of rival captains Davis Love III and Jose-Maria Olazabal have already moved on to the special requirements of the Ryder Cup and the tricky decisions facing them, particularly in finalising their fourball and foursomes pairings. Many captains have perished when failing to master this crucial aspect of the contest.
Take, for example, the first match in 2004 at Oakland Hills when Hal Sutton indicated that he intended to put his best foot forward from the outset and duly paired the game’s No 1 and No 2 players Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the fourballs on the first morning. Undaunted, his European counterpart Bernhard Langer believed he had the perfect counterfoil and handed the responsibility of taking on the two superstars to Colin Montgomerie and Pádraig Harrington.
Woods and Mickelson were clearly uneasy in each other’s company whereas Monty and Pádraig proved an inspired partnership, setting an example for those coming behind with a 2&1 victory. Europe took 3½ points out of a possible four from the session and went on to romp home by 18½ matches to 9½.
Tiger and Phil never played together again and it’s a safe bet that they won’t do so this week either. Whereas Mickelson and Jim Furyk are a likely formation after winning three out of three in the 2011 Presidents Cup, Love may still be in doubt as to how to make best use of Woods’s phenomenal qualities.
The popular belief is that he will play with Steve Stricker as the duo fared well together in the past, although in their most recent appearances, they were walloped 7&6 by Adam Scott and K J Choi in last year’s President’s Cup at Royal Melbourne and 6&5 by Luke Donald and Westwood at Celtic Manor in 2010.
Olazabal’s fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia has tended to blow more cold than hot in Majors but at the Ryder Cup, his record is outstanding — he has contested nine foursomes matches and totalled an incredible 8½ points.
You can again visualise European pairings of Garcia and Westwood and Garcia and Donald while there seems little reason to separate McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. The English trio of Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Donald will also form partnerships and having fared well as a unit two years ago, Westwood and Martin Kaymer look a viable option. The trouble with this couple is that their current form is unsatisfactory.
That leaves the rival captains with crucial calls. The Molinari brothers were heroic at Celtic Manor but this week Francesco is on his own. The European captain has also to figure out how best to fit in Paul Lawrie, Peter Hanson and Nicolas Colsaerts.
Love faces a similar dilemma with the likes of Justin Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson, although Snedeker will be buoyed by his Sunday night heroics.
As 18 of the 28 points come from the fourball/foursomes matches, nobody should underestimate the importance of getting the pairings right. Even the slightest lead going into Sunday’s 10 singles could prove crucial and it’s at that point that Love and Olazabal again move centre stage.
The thousands wishing to see a head-to-head between Woods and McIlroy may be disappointed. Interestingly, in his seven previous appearances in the Ryder Cup, Tiger has only gone out once at the top of the singles order, in 2004 when he beat Paul Casey 3&2 at Oakland Hills.
Don’t be surprised if Olazabal asks Paul Lawrie to fill the anchor man role and Love turns to Zach Johnson. Neither may be a household name but both have thrived in the heat of battle — a valuable attribute to have this weekend.
