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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — European team captain Luke Donald is hoping for a fast start at this week’s Ryder Cup, which tees off Friday morning at Marco Simone outside Rome.
As captain of the home team, Donald elected to start with foursomes (alternate shot) matches Friday morning. It’s the first time the Ryder Cup will start with foursomes since 1993, which was the last time the Americans won a Ryder Cup outside of the United States. The U.S. team hasn’t won on foreign soil since a 15-13 victory at the Belfry in Warwickshire, England.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns will take on Spain’s Jon Rahm and England’s Tyrrell Hatton in the first match. Scheffler has won six times on the PGA Tour the past two seasons, but he struggled mightily with his putting in 2023. Burns ranked fourth on tour in total putting and seventh in one-putt percentage (43.83%).
Open Championship winner Brian Harman and six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa, a pair of Ryder Cup rookies, will face Norway’s Viktor Hovland and former Texas Tech star Ludvig Aberg in the second match. Hovland won twice during the FedEx Cup playoffs, including the Tour Championship, and is ranked fourth in the world. Aberg will also be playing in his first Ryder Cup.
In the third match, Ryder Cup veteran Rickie Fowler and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa will play Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Austria’s Sepp Straka, another European first-timer. Fowler is making his fifth Ryder Cup appearance and first since 2018. He’ll try to improve his 3-7-5 record in the event, which includes a 1-3-2 mark in foursomes.
One of the American team’s most reliable pairings, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, will play in the final match and will face Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and England’s Tommy Fleetwood. Cantlay and Schauffele are a combined 5-0 in foursomes matches in their past three appearances in international team events, two Presidents Cup and one Ryder Cup.
Cantlay and Schauffele also set a tournament record for foursomes with a 9-under 63 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April. They won that team event in 2022.
McIlroy, the No. 2 golfer in the world, has been the heart and soul of the European team for the past few years. He broke down in tears during the American team’s 19-9 victory at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin in September 2021 after winning only one of four potential points. It was the U.S. team’s largest margin of victory in the event.
U.S. team captain Zach Johnson elected to sit Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in the Friday morning session, despite their 8-2-0 record when playing together in international events. Thomas struggled with his form throughout the PGA Tour season and missed the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his career. He needed one of Johnson’s six captain’s picks to make the team for the third time.
Thomas has been one of the American team’s best players in international events and has a 6-2-1 record in the Ryder Cup.
The U.S. team has not won the foursomes on European soil since 2002. It is 4-4-2 in the past 10 foursomes sessions dating back to 2012.
The teams will play four four-ball (best ball) matches Friday afternoon.