Happy Ryder Cup Tuesday, everybody – and I stress that it's Tuesday when I'm writing this, because as the week progresses, the prognostications you're about to read are going to come into clearer focus, so don't mean-tweet me after clicking on this piece Friday morning and tell me I've gotten it all wrong.
OK, enough with the preamble.
Starting Friday in Rome, we're about to witness 16 partnered matches – from foursomes to four-balls, then repeating again – and 12 singles matches to determine the winner.
Nothing is set in stone yet; the first session will be announced Thursday afternoon and all subsequent sessions might only be determined by performance. And yet, that's not going to st op any of us from trying to figure out exactly what U.S. captain Zach Johnson and Europe captain Luke Donald will decide upon for the three-day event.
This is, of course, an eminently ridiculous exercise for a few reasons: First, anything past the opening session is results-based, so developments will happen; and second, we'll find out all these answers soon enough anyway.
Good thing I'm a sucker for ridiculous exercises.
Using what we know, what we've already seen and then taking a few gambles on those performances, here's my take on when and where we'll see every player and whom they might be playing against.
Ryder Cup Predictions
Match 1: Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry (EUR)
Johnson leads off with his most emotional pairing while Donald counters with his team leader. In the market of “To Hit First Shot for Europe,” McIlroy remains at 7/2 odds, but Lowry is four times that number at 14/1, offering plenty of value.
Match 2: Collin Morikawa/Max Homa (USA) vs. Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton (EUR)
Tough to not love the idea of such juxtaposition with the game's two most fiery world-class players against a couple of guys who are California cool.
Match 3: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (USA) vs. Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg (EUR)
It's become obvious that Donald has chosen Hovland, a fellow Scandinavian, to hold the hand of rookie Aberg, who of c ourse should need no hand-holding whatsoever.
Match 4: Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns (USA) vs. Tommy Fleetwood/Justin Rose (EUR)
Of all these potential partnerships, Fleetwood/Rose was the only one in which the players didn't practice together on Tuesday. If we take that as a cue, it might instead be Matt Fitzpatrick with Rose, but leaving the in-form Fleetwood on the sidelines feels like a tough decision.
Match 5: Brooks Koepka/Wyndham Clark (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry (EUR)
I'll readily admit that I have a much better feel for the U.S. pairings as we move past the opening session than the European tandems. The thought here is that McIlroy and Lowry look strong together in the opener and Donald keeps them together until it stops working.
Match 6: Jordan Spieth/Rickie Fowler (USA) vs. Matt Fitzpatrick/Robert Macintyre (EUR)
We've all come to assume that Spieth and Thomas are an in separable duo, but it wouldn't come as a surprise if JT sits and Spieth gets another buddy in Fowler for a few matches this week.
Match 7: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (USA) vs. Jon Rahm/Viktor Hovland (EUR)
That's the sound of the bell for this heavyweight fight, featuring four players ranked in the top six of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Match 8: Scottie Scheffler/Brian Harman (USA) vs. Tommy Fleetwood/Sepp Straka (EUR)
There's a chance Scheffler never tees off without Burns by his side for the first two days, but Harman has to play somewhere, and it makes sense to pair him with a guy who could use some help on the greens. Speaking of making sense, Fleetwood/Straka might be more likely in foursomes, but I think Rose will be rested here and Nicolai Hojgaard gets the Caroline Hedwall treatment.
Match 9: Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry (EUR)
I'll preface the Saturday predictions with two things we know if we've been listening carefully enough: Johnson and his assistants have been very transparent in talking about the physical demands necessary on this course, almost as if they're setting up the potential of nobody playing five matches and everyone getting a rest before Sunday. Meanwhile, Donald has tak en a very analytical, stats-based approach, meaning he's less likely than previous captains to move to Plan B if the original strategy isn't working. For that reason, we shouldn't be surprised to see many of the same partnerships on Saturday that we saw on Friday.
Match 10: Collin Morikawa/Max Homa (USA) vs. Tommy Fleetwood/Sepp Straka (EUR)
OK, so maybe now I'm simply hedging my bet by suggesting that Fleetwood/Straka will play foursomes together at some point.
Match 11: Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns (USA) vs. Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg (EUR)
A pair of repeat duos here, though these teams might make even more sense playing together in four-balls.
Match 12: Wyndham Clark/Rickie Fowler (USA) vs. Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton (EUR)
Unless they're absolutely whupping their opponents and pleading to play, don't be surprised if/when names are announced for a session and Schauffele/Cant lay aren't included.
Match 13: Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (USA) vs. Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood (EUR)