The good and bad of Pavin's pairings

 

The Ryder Cup’s opening fourball pairings are:

2:45 am -- Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson (USA) vs. Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer (EUROPE)
3 am -- Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell (EUROPE)
3:15 am -- Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods (USA) vs. Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher (EUROPE)
3:30 am -- Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton (USA) vs. Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington (EUROPE)

 

I love the pairing of Phil and Dustin, who wanted to play together, and the pairing of Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods, who combined to go 4-0 playing together in last year’s Presidents Cup.

Pavin chose to leave captain’s picks Zach Johnson and Rickie Fowler, as well as automatic qualifiers Jim Furyk and Hunter Mahan on the sidelines for the first four matches.

Furyk just won the Tour Championship and FedExCup last week, and Mahan went undefeated in five matches at the 2008 Ryder Cup in Kentucky, going 2-0-3 in his first Ryder Cup. I’m not sure how you leave those two guys out of the opening matches, especially when you consider Pavin has sent out two groups that have to be considered underdogs in their fourball matches.

Stewart Cink is 4-7-4 in his Ryder Cup career, and though Matt Kuchar finished second in the FedExCup playoffs, he didn’t play particularly well last week in the Tour Championship, finishing 25^th in the 30-player event. Young star Rory McIlroy and partner Graeme McDowell, the reigning U.S. Open champion, have to be considered favorites in that match.

As do Europeans Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington against Ryder Cup rookies Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton, who Pavin somewhat inexplicably chose to anchor his team in the morning. Furyk needed a sand save on the 18^th hole at East Lake to hold off Donald by a shot for the Tour Championship and FedExCup. He’s the hottest of the four players in that match and should carry the scoring.