By ,
Published November 20, 2014
Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker will play in Friday's anchor match for the United States against Englishmen Ian Poulter and Justin Rose at the Ryder Cup.
The pairings were announced at the end of the opening ceremonies Thursday afternoon.
Woods and Stricker have been a formidable pairing in both the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup. They will be in the fourth foursomes match out on Friday.
The first match Friday morning at 8:20 a.m. ET will pit Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell against Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker. The first three are all former U.S. Open champions, while Snedeker is coming off a win at the Tour Championship 10 days ago.
Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia will be in the second match out against Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. The pairing for the Americans is a comfortable one as the two are frequent practice round partners.
The third match slates Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari against Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson.
Nicolas Colsaerts, the only rookie on Jose Maria Olazabal's European team, will sit out the morning session as will Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer and Paul Lawrie, who are all making their second appearance at the Ryder Cup.
United States captain Davis Love III is getting three of his four rookies out in the morning -- Snedeker, Bradley and Dufner. The fourth rookie, U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson, will sit alongside Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson. Those three are playing their second Ryder Cups.
After the foursomes matches, there will be four four-ball matches on Friday afternoon. The format is the same for Saturday, then there will be 12 singles matches on Sunday.
The first team to 14 1/2 points wins the Ryder Cup, but if the match is tied at 14, the Europe will retain the Cup after capturing it two years ago at Celtic Manor.
The Americans last win was at Valhalla in 2008, but Europe has won four of the last five Cups overall.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/woods-stricker-to-anchor-u-s-on-friday-morning-at-ryder-cup