Mickelson-Fowler team up to lead U.S. as Ryder Cup pairings announced
CHASKA, Minn. — The U.S. will look to dominate the morning session Saturday just as they did in Friday’s opening day of the 41st Ryder Cup.
The U.S., who swept the morning foursomes to jump out to a 4-0 lead, watched its lead dwindle to 5-3, when Europe won three of the four fourballs matches in the afternoon.
The first match is a powerhouse as morning victors Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler face afternoon winners Rory McIlroy and Thomas Pieters.
Then comes a couple shockers as Europe captain Darren Clarke split up his formidable pair of Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, who are 4-1 as a team in the past two editions of the Ryder Cup.
Clarke wanted to get Chris Wood and Matt Fitzpatrick into the matches after both didn’t play on Friday. So Clarke said he wanted to put four veterans – McIlroy, Stenson, Rose and Sergio Garcia – with four rookies – Pieters, Fitzpatrick, Wood and Rafa Cabrera Bello.
“Henrik and Justin is a huge stalwart of European Ryder Cup, of recent ones, but both those guys said to me, ‘Darren, if you want to split us, we’re more than happy to take a rookie out with us, and go play,’” Clarke said. “One is the Open champion, the other is the Olympic champion. They know what they’re doing.
“ … There's going to be some more interesting matches again tomorrow. There always is at the Ryder Cup. But certainly looking at the matchups that we have tomorrow morning, I think we are in for another really, really exciting morning. And hopefully, from a European point of view, we'll do a little bit better than we did this morning.”
Stenson will pair with rookie Fitzpatrick in the second match against Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka, who were easy winners on Day 1 in the afternoon session.
In the third match, Rose will team with rookie Wood as the two face Zach Johnson and Jimmy Walker, who won in foursomes.
Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed face Europe’s Sergio Garcia and Cabrera Bello in the anchor match. Spieth and Reed won the opening match Friday to run their record to 3-0-1 as a team the past two editions of the Ryder Cup. The two, however, lost their first match in the afternoon. Garcia and Bello were a solid team Friday afternoon in a 3 and 2 win against J.B. Holmes and Ryan Moore.
“Our guys will be rested and motivated whether it's tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon,” Love said.
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