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Friday morning foursomes Rahm/Garcia and Spieth/Thomas open this year's Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits
For the European team, the Spanish pair of Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia took the burden of commencing the defense of the Ryder Cup trophy won in 2018.
Contesting the foursome event this morning at Whistling Straits golf course, the United States team propelled their attempt to reclaim the Ryder Cup from Europe.
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Playing beside Spanish compatriot Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia had the attention of hitting the opening shot in the morning foursomes, with Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas presenting the opponent.
A rowdy crowd produced a great ambiance on the first tee in Wisconsin, with some boos for Europe. Garcia drove into a bunker before Thomas responded by finding the fairway.
Europe, then led by Thomas Bjorn, won by seven points last time out at Le Golf National in 2018. After a year's delay between the coronavirus pandemic, new captain Padraig Harrington has gone for experience to kick off his team's campaign.
Paul Casey, 44, joined Viktor Hovland in the next match against Dustin Johnson and Open champion Collin Morikawa, followed by the 48-year-old Lee Westwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick against Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger.
The final clash of the opening session pits Ian Poulter, 45, and Rory McIlroy against the rookie American duo of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
For the opening matches, Europe has left out Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, and Bernd Wiesberger, while Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, Tony Finau, and Scottie Scheffler miss out on the U.S. team.
The fourballs event pairings will be confirmed later in the day.
Friday's foursomes
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth (USA) v Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia (EUR)
Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa (USA) v Paul Casey and Viktor Hovland (EUR)
Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger (USA) v Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick (EUR)
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (USA) v Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter (EUR)