The Ryder Cup is almost upon us, with the first pairings for the Friday foursomes announced at Thursday's opening ceremony.
Both Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will be in action on Friday morning, with Lowry and Sepp Straka taking on Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa (7:05am Irish time), and McIlroy teaming up with Tommy Fleetwood to face Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in the final game of the morning (7:20am Irish time).
CONFIRMED: Both Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will play in the first session of the Ryder Cup ☘️
(Times below are in Irish time)
6:35 - Rahm/Hatton v Scheffler/Burns
6:50 - Aberg/Hovland v Homa/Harman
7:05 - Lowry/Straka v Fowler/Morikawa
7:20 - McIlroy/Fleetwood v… pic.twitter.com/qJ2yM1OUR6— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 28, 2023
Europe are hoping to regain the Ryder Cup after defeat at Whistling Straits in 2021, and are hoping to defend a 30-year unbeaten run on home soil, as the tournament visits Italy for the first time at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.
Team Europe will need their behind the scenes preparation to be perfect if they are to prevail this week and, ahead of the first games teeing off on Friday morning, Irish golfer Paul McGinley noted several elements of the build-up which he believed had begun to play into Europe's hands.
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Paul McGinley pinpoints several elements tipping scales in Team Europe's favour
After the Ryder Cup opening ceremony, spirits were high among the Team Europe golfers, with several players speaking to reporters as they left the stage. A particular highlight saw Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood reveal they had given their partnership a name ahead of Friday's foursomes - "Fleetwood Mc."
Notable, however, was the lack of access to American players as the Ryder Cup got underway. As the Sky Sports panel reacted to the absence of interviews from American stars, Paul McGinley broke down elements of concern from Team USA's buildup, saying he was unsure about the team being entirely together.
Though McGinley acknowledged that some personal reasons were at play (such as the birth of Jordan Spieth's child), he nonetheless questioned the decision making from some Team USA members in choosing their schedules in the buildup, and said that the European players will have noticed the lack of unity from the American players in arriving to the Ryder Cup:
I think Europe are the better prepared team here. I know Wyndham Clark had an opposite view yesterday, I strongly disagree with that.
I think the European team here is primed, I think there's a lot of good form in this team...I think we're coming in here with a good preparation for this style of golf.
I know there were personal reasons, but only nine of the 12 came over. Europe notice this, there's a little bit of giddiness for Europe.
They have five weeks off, they could have played in California, only two of them chose to play in California. They could have played in the BMW PGA - top 50 in the world were all exempted to that...have a week off in between, stay in beautiful Europe.
The 2004 Ryder Cup, which saw Team Europe take a then-record breaking 18.5 to 9.5 victory, was also referenced, and 2014 captain McGinley tipped Europe to reclaim the cup come Sunday evening.
Bring it on.
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