Ryder Cup: Pairings, tee times

The United States took a 3-1 lead over Europe in the opening session of the 42nd Ryder Cup. Here are the Friday afternoon matches for foursomes (alternate shot)

7:50 a.m. ET: Dustin Johnson/Rickie Fowler vs. Henrik Stenson/Justin Rose

8:05 a.m. ET: Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson vs. Rory McIlroy/Ian Poulter

8:20 a.m. ET: Phil Mickelson/Bryson DeChambeau vs. Sergio Garcia/Alex Noren

8:35 a.m. ET: Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas vs. Francesco Molinari/Tommy Fleetwood

Pairings/matchups: Friday morning Four-ball session

Brooks Koepka-Tony Finau (USA) vs. Justin Rose-Jon Rahm (Europe), 2:10 a.m. ET

The FedExCup champion will square off against the likely PGA TOUR Player of the Year in the opening match of the Ryder Cup. They’ll each be joined by a rookie in this Four-Ball match. Rose and Rahm rank second and third on TOUR in birdie average, respectively. Rose won the FedExCup with incredible consistency, finishing in the top 10 in 61 percent of his TOUR starts. Rahm didn't post a top-10 in any of the four FedExCup Playoffs events. Koepka has a knack for thriving on the biggest stages, and that includes the Ryder Cup. He went 3-1-0 in his debut at Hazeltine. Finau made the second-most birdies on TOUR this season (405). He was 45 under par in the FedExCup Playoffs, finishing in the top 10 in the first three events to earn the final Captain's Pick.

Brooks Koepka
FedExCup: 9
Ryder Cup record: 3-1-0
Four-Balls: 1-1-0
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 9th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 93rd
Strokes Gained: Putting: 113th

Tony Finau
FedExCup: 6
Rookie
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 19th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 24th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 65th

Justin Rose
FedExCup: 1
Ryder Cup record: 11-6-2
Four-Balls: 4-3-0
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 14th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 29th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 17th

Jon Rahm
FedExCup: 23
Rookie
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 3rd
Strokes Gained: Approach: 80th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 135th

Dustin Johnson-Rickie Fowler (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy-Thorbjorn Olesen (Europe), 2:25 a.m. ET
Johnson leads the PGA TOUR in birdie average (4.7). The No. 1 player in the world ranking heads a strong team that is looking to turn around its fortunes in this format. Johnson and Fowler are a combined 2-5-2 in this format. McIlroy will be responsible to take pressure off Olesen, the only rookie in this match. Fowler finished in the top 10 in two starts since returning from his oblique injury. Olesen qualified for the European Team with a hot summer that included a third-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. McIlroy will need to regroup after a tough Sunday at the TOUR Championship. He shot 74 while playing in the final group with Tiger Woods.

Dustin Johnson
FedExCup: 4
Ryder Cup record: 6-5-0
Four-Balls: 2-4-0
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 1st
Strokes Gained: Approach: 5th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 30th

Rickie Fowler
FedExCup: 17
Ryder Cup record: 2-4-5
Four-Balls: 0-1-2
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 52nd
Strokes Gained: Approach: 30th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 40th

Rory McIlroy
FedExCup: 13
Ryder Cup record: 9-6-4
Four-Balls: 3-2-2
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 6th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 50th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 85th

Thorbjorn Olesen
FedExCup: NR
Rookie
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: +0.13
Strokes Gained: Approach: +0.35
Strokes Gained: Putting: +0.33
* - didn’t play enough rounds to be ranked in PGA TOUR statistics

Jordan Spieth-Justin Thomas (USA) vs. Paul Casey-Tyrrell Hatton (Europe), 2:40 a.m. ET
The good friends first represented the United States in France at the 2007 Evian Masters Junior Cup when they were 14. Now they’re doing it at the Ryder Cup. Thomas will have the comfort of making his Ryder Cup debut with Spieth by his side. Thomas performed admirably in his first professional team competition, going 3-1 at last year’s Presidents Cup. Casey will be in charge of showing the ropes to Hatton, his younger countryman who is making his Ryder Cup debut.

Jordan Spieth
FedExCup: 31
Ryder Cup record: 4-3-2
Four-Balls: 3-1-0
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 54th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 26th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 136th

Justin Thomas
FedExCup: 7
Rookie
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 30th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 3rd
Strokes Gained: Putting: 44th

Paul Casey
FedExCup: 25
Ryder Cup record: 3-2-4
Four-Balls: 1-0-3
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 77th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 13th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 89th

Tyrrell Hatton
FedExCup: 54
Rookie
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 73rd
Strokes Gained: Approach: 77th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 47th

Patrick Reed-Tiger Woods (USA) vs. Francesco Molinari-Tommy Fleetwood (Europe), 2:55 a.m. ET
They both wear red and black. They’re both Masters champions. And they will carry the anchor for the United States team in the opening session. The Ryder Cup brings out Reed’s best. Now he gets to play alongside his idol, who is coming off a win in the TOUR Championship. They’ll face a European side that has had much success at Le Golf National. Fleetwood won the 2017 French Open here, while Molinari has twice been a runner-up at Le Golf National.

Molinari has faced Woods in singles in his previous two Ryder Cups, going 0-1-1. This is a new Molinari, though. He arrives as the reigning Open champion. He played with Woods in the final round at Carnoustie and accepted the Quicken Loans National trophy from Woods earlier this summer.

Patrick Reed
FedExCup: 22
Ryder Cup record: 6-1-2
Four-Balls: 3-1-0
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 107th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 84th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 76th

Tiger Woods
FedExCup: 2
Ryder Cup record: 13-17-3
Four-Balls: 5-8-0
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 104th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 1st
Strokes Gained: Putting: 39th

Francesco Molinari
FedExCup: 17
Ryder Cup record: 0-3-2
Four-Balls: 0-1-1
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 7th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 12th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 181st

Tommy Fleetwood
FedExCup: 19
Rookie
Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee: 17th
Strokes Gained: Approach: 49th
Strokes Gained: Putting: 50th