Pavin And Monty Pick Poisons For Ryder Cup FourBalls

Serenaded by Welsh singer Catherine Jenkins, The flags of Europe and the United States have been hoisted at Celtic Manor for this years Ryder Cup.

The opening two days for the squads of 12 consists of the 4 balls and foursomes. Now the 4 balls see two teams playing each other with a ball each. The foursomes differ in that there is just 1 ball for each team of two golfers.

Obviously the two captains put a lot of thought to which players would complement each other. Tiger Woods insists that he loves the team element in a sport which is usually a lone battle.

Next up its the singles that start on Sunday and this is where the tournament reaches its climax. The captains tactics come into even closer scrutiny , as they decide which order their team goes out in.  Do you put in your big hitters like Tiger Woods and Ian Poulter in early or leave them till last? Its a decision that will make or break a tournament for a team.

The event will be teed off by Europe’s Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer taking on America’s Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Westwood is the number three in the world, with Mickelson just ahead of him.

The world number one, Tiger Woods, will team with Steve Stricker to face Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher. Elsewhere, the Northern Ireland duo of Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will play Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar. And Luke Donald will team with Padraig Harrington to go against Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton.

Sportspeaks chief sports correspondent Dan “Pitchside” Pitcher has this report

Daniel "Pitchside" Pitcher Twitter: @DanFM104Sport About: Dan "Pitchside" Pitcher provides insight and commentary as the chief soccer and rugby correspondent for Sportspeak.