by Jeff Skinner
OK, the tease is over. The Captains have released their first round Ryder Cup pairings for the morning matches. There are some interesting teams which are sure to give us a few dramatic matches.
Ryder Cup Pairings 2010:
Match 1
Phil Mickelson & Dustin Johnson vs. Lee Westwood & Martin Kaymer. Corey and Monty were thinking alike by sending out some early firepower. Longballers Phil and Dustin will try to overpower two of Europe’s best. If Lee’s leg isn’t an issue he and PGA Champ Martin should give us a great match.
Match 2
Stewart Cink & Matt Kuchar vs. Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell. The Georgia Tech Boys versus St. Patty’s Boys. Kuch and Cink, Georgia Tech grads, were a natural pairing and Rory and Graeme are just about Saints in Ireland.
Match 3
Steve Stricker & Tiger Woods vs. Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher. Strick and Tiger were undefeated in The Presidents Cup and play well together. Tiger isn’t the easiest partner to play with but he and Stricker are fast friends. Monty puts a pair of sturdy Englishmen together to battle them. Poulter is outspoken about wanting to take down Tiger and Fisher doesn’t get the publicity he deserves.
Match 4
Bubba Watson & Jeff Overton vs. Luke Donald & Padraig Harrington. Cheers to Pavin for putting a pair of rookies out alone on the first day. “Welcome to the Ryder Cup” and the pressure cooker that it is boys. Donald may be the hottest golfer on the European team and if Paddy can’t find his game Donald will surely pull more than his own weight. Watson and Overton are both emotional players, if things go bad early it may be tough to keep their composure.
It looks a like Pavin is trying to get all his players in action over the next two days. Getting the whole team on the course before the last team match shows confidence in your players.
I keep waiting for Monty to put a foot in his mouth but so far he has been almost perfect. The Donald/Harrington pairing is a good bit of strategy. He also showed that he can be a class guy when he had Seve Ballesteros speak to the European team on a conference call. Seve gave them an emotional sendoff and the team was truly inspired by Seve who many call the most important figure in the history of the Ryder Cup. Monty summed it up when talking about Seve and The Ryder Cup, “Seve is our Ryder Cup” he said, very classy Monty.
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