It didn’t take long into Ryder Cup week to get a sense of how Keegan Bradley might deploy his star-studded Team USA roster.
While the grand festivities are still a few days away, the action has begun on ground at Bethpage Black where a week of practice rounds precedes the three-day bash set to start on Sept. 26. Full-team practice rounds are underway, and with it, comes plenty of intel about which way teams are leaning with their pairings.
Based on Team USA practice round groupings, here’s how Bradley might be looking to roll out his lineup for Saturday and Sunday team competition.
Group 1: Bryson DeChambeau, Ben Griffin, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young
Group 2: Harris English, Russell Henley, Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun
Group 3: Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele
Based on those groups, here are the best guesses on twosome plays for the first couple of days, assuming everyone plays.
DeChambeau/GriffinÂ
While there’s a pretty sensible match for just about everyone else on the roster, these two don’t have an obvious partner. This could work. DeChambeau obviously is a monster off the tee, while Griffin is a strong approach player who is dynamite around and on the green. They just have to make sure they can hit it straight enough. Griffin also singled out DeChambeau in a recent CBS podcast, saying it would be “really fun” to play with the two-time major winner.
Thomas/Young
This has all the makings of a tone-setter group. Thomas is the supposed heart and soul of Team USA, and Young is a New York native. It would not be surprising at all to see this duo go off first to start the tournament.
Henley/Scheffler
Admittedly, the middle group is a slight toss-up. Scheffler, as the best player on the planet, should be able to play with anyone. He and Henley teamed up at the Presidents Cup last year and had some success. Team USA, though, could pair up Scheffler and Spaun for foursomes in the morning and run back the Scheffler-Henley pairing in the afternoon for four ball.
English/Spaun
Again, a lot depends on how Scheffler is utilized. But this would be a lowkey fascinating pairing. Neither is especially flashy, but they’re both wonderful ball strikers, and it has all the makings of the out-of-nowhere pairing that randomly dominates we seem to see at every team competition.
Cantlay/Schauffele
Each of these players has four career team matches in their respective Ryder Cup careers. They were paired together in all four. They simply don’t know anything else. Neither had a good season, though, and one assumes the hope is just getting them back together unlocks something for both.
Burns/Morikawa
Until the Presidents Cup, Burns’ team play claim to fame was that he was Scheffler’s buddy. However, in his lone Ryder Cup appearance, he split team matches with Scheffler and Morikawa. The path to success is clear, though: Morikawa ball fires at pins, and Burns gets hot with the putter.
Ryder Cup: Keegan Bradley Tips USA Hand With Practice Round Pairings