he Ryder Cup excitement and anticipation is reaching fever pitch following the confirmation of the pairings and tee times for Friday’s opening foursomes.
The action begins bright and early in the morning at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, with captain Luke Donald selecting the feisty pairing of reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm and England’s Tyrrell Hatton to kick off Team Europe’s bid for glory after their record humbling at Whistling Straits two years ago.
They will face world No1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time PGA Tour winner Sam Burns, with the USA hoping to get off to a strong start of their own as they jostle for a first Ryder Cup triumph on European soil since 1993 at The Belfry.
In match two, Donald has paired the in-form FedExCup and TOUR Championship winner Viktor Hovland with talented rookie Ludvig Aberg, hailed as a “generational talent” by his captain.
They go up against Brian Harman, dominant Open winner at Royal Liverpool back in July, and six-time tour winner Max Homa.
Match three sees 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry team up with Austrian debutant Josef “Sepp” Straka, who finished closest to Harman at this year’s Open. They face a tough test against Ryder Cup stalwart Rickie Fowler and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood is the final high-profile Europe foursome pairing picked for Friday morning’s action, to go up against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.
The Friday foursomes are followed by four more afternoon four-ball matches, with the players for those showdowns set to be named during the course of the morning.
Ryder Cup 2023 Friday foursomes tee times and pairings
all times BST unless stated
Match 1, 6:35am: Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns vs Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton
Match 2, 6:50am: Max Homa/Brian Harman vs Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg
Match 3, 7:05am: Rickie Fowler/Collin Morikawa vs Shane Lowry/Sepp Straka
Match 4, 7:20am: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay vs Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood
Ryder Cup 2023 Friday four-balls tee times and pairings
Match 1, 11:25am
Match 2, 11:40am
Match 3, 11:55am
Match 4, 12:10pm
