GLENEAGLES, Scotland - On his way out of the FedEx Cup playoffs this month, Henrik Stenson stopped to consider a potential Ryder Cup pairing of his European teammates Rory McIlroy and Sergio García.
'I don't want to meet them,' Stenson said with a laugh. 'I'm glad they're on our side.'
The challenge of toppling McIlroy and García, longtime friends and first-time partners, will fall to Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley, who were undefeated as a team for the United States at the 2012 Ryder Cup outside Chicago. Their four-ball contest, which the American captain Tom Watson likened to a main event in boxing, will be the fourth and final match in Friday's opening session of the 40th Ryder Cup.
Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson, who were 2-1 as a team in 2012, will take on Stenson of Sweden and Justin Rose of England in the opening match. The second match will feature Rickie Fowler and the Ryder Cup rookie Jimmy Walker against Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Martin Kaymer of Germany. The third match is the second most intriguing of the morning, pitting the two other American players making their debuts, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed, against the Scot Stephen Gallacher and the Englishman Ian Poulter, who was the star of Europe's 2012 road upset.
Watson acknowledged it was a sink-or-swim pairing for Spieth and Reed, whom he chose over two veterans, Jim Furyk and Matt Kuchar.
'I said, 'I'm going to throw you in the ocean without a life preserver, you're on your own, you get out there and get it done,' ' Watson said.
He added: 'These players are not dumb. They know Ian has that reputation of being a great Ryder Cup player. If they beat him, it's more power to them.'
If Spieth, 21, and Reed, 24, can slay Poulter and Gallacher, it would give the United States a huge lift, Watson said. Similarly, whichever pair emerges victorious in the morning's final match will give their team momentum heading into the afternoon's alternate-ball matches.
'That's what happens,' Watson said. 'There's an ebb and flow to this thing.'
The matchup of Mickelson and Bradley against the top-ranked McIlroy and García is sure to be more scrutinized because of a barb Mickelson directed at McIlroy in a news conference Wednesday. Asked about the perceived lack of chemistry among the players on the American team, Mickelson said everybody gets along well and nobody on the team has drawn anybody else into litigation. McIlroy is suing his former management company, and his teammate Graeme McDowell, who is also with the agency, has been dragged into the legal proceedings.
The European players on Thursday dismissed Mickelson's comments as good-natured banter.
'Of course, yeah, it was mentioned last night,' Rose said. 'Phil came up to Rory last night and was like, hey, this and that. It's no real big deal.'
After the pairings were announced, McIlroy said, 'Obviously Keegan and Phil played really well at Medinah a couple years ago, so it will be nice to go out there and play well and play like we know how to play and take a point away from there, I think would be very important.'
Stenson, who had two weeks off after failing to qualify for the Tour Championship, knows how important it is to get off to a good start. He was the last player from either team on the course Thursday honing his game.
Post By http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/sports/ryder-cup-pairings-for-day-1-are-announced.html
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