2025 Ryder Cup Pairings Breakdown: Strategy, Matchups & Key Player Combos

Patrick McDonald and Mark Immelman join CBS Sports HQ to react to the announcement of the 2025 Ryder Cup pairings and talk about the strategy, matchups and key player combos for each team.

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the NFL on CBS and Paramount Plus. Breaking news on CBS sports HQ. If you are a fan of the Ryder Cup, we have been waiting for this day. One foursome matches have just been released. So taking a look at the list, all of these guys teeing off between about 7:10 a.m. 7:58 a.m. as well. Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton going up against Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas. Ludvig Oberg, Matt Fitzpatrick versus Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley. How about this Rory and Tommy Fleetwood. They performed very well together against Collin Morikawa and Harris English and Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland versus Zander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who are very good friends. But let’s ask our experts what they think about the foursome matches getting underway tomorrow at Bethpage. The weather should be pretty nice. A little chilly, a little overcast. We have Mark Immelman here. Patrick MacDonald. Mark, I’ll start with you. Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton versus Bryson and JT. Bryson and JT. They’ve been paired together before the Ryder Cup. This is the pairing that Shane Bacon said. I want this group to bring all the vibes for team USA. What do you think about them? Yeah sort of. Everyone was opining that we’d see this matchup and going out number 1 or 2, just to set the tone, which I got to be honest with you, Amanda. The tone doesn’t need much setting right now with these New York fans because they are rabid. But as far as that grouping goes, Captain Luke Donald going with what I believe is, if not his strongest lineup, certainly his second strongest in Manhattan. And if you needed somebody to neutralize the energy of Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas whipping up the crowds into a froth, it’s Manhattan. Because the two of them, they mix it up well with each other. They’re up for a battle. They’re not afraid of a little heckling. In fact, I feel like it’s almost energy. It fills up their energy reservoir, if you will. So it’s going to be a fun match. But as I’m looking at it right now, I feel like that’s one very much like in Rome two years ago, that Roman hadn’t can set the tone for the euros and get an early point. I totally agree Mark. I think Bryson and JT leading off for the Americans was probably the worst kept secret buzzing around Bethpage Black this weekend with when Luke, Donald and you pretty much know what Keegan Bradley is holding in his hand. You counter with your best duo. I know Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood probably has that title, but you can avoid that Bryson Rory drama. Maybe save it for later if you need a little bit of extra juice. But you counter with Rahm and Hatton, who went two and zero in Rome. Rahm has never lost in foursomes. He was great in with Sergio Garcia as well at Whistling Straits. They started it off in 2023, in a winning fashion as well. And so I think if you’re Luke Donald, you have to be thrilled with how this first match really shaped up for you. And if you’re Keegan Bradley, like Mark said, you don’t really need to add juice to this environment. There’s going to be plenty for everyone to drink out of. And so it’s going to go one way or another, completely different ends of the spectrum, I think, with this. Bryson DeChambeau. Justin Thomas group, it could be great. It could go really bad. And I can’t wait to find out tomorrow morning. So Bryson and JT were not a secret, but Keegan Bradley is not saying who’s going to take the first tee shot. Does it matter? Who would you like? Patrick? It definitely matters, especially in foursomes. I think you need the longer in the better iron player to tee off on the odd holes. And in this duo it would be Bryson DeChambeau. That would give him a lot of the high leverage shots. Number two the approach. Number three and four. The drive on 15 as well later in the match, including approach shots into 16, 17 and 18. If the match does reach that point, so it absolutely matters. And I think it will be Bryson striking that first tee shot. I would kind of I hear what you’re saying, Patrick, but I also want to talk to you too. If he does, then a lot of the holes that ask for draws, Justin Thomas is going to get off the tee, and Bryson DeChambeau likes to go from right to left. So look, it’s up in the air right now. I’m sure they gamed this out. In fact, there’s no doubt they have. And I’m sure they looked at the data as to the thing as well. I would agree with you though. If you’re looking for the better iron player, Justin Thomas is your guy, so I’m likely to see him teeing off on the second and Bryson opening up. Mark talking about mixing things up. Let’s go to the next group here because you have Ludvig Oberg going and Matt Fitzpatrick excuse me. So many names like just to say Scottie Scheffler Russell Henry Ludvig not paired with Viktor Hovland. They performed well together. Russell Henley and Harris English. They were college roommates in college. Are you surprised that they’ve kind of shaken things up here? Well, look, Scottie and Russell Henley, I got to say this in Montreal, the Presidents Cup. Scotty found his partner. Folks have tried him with Tiger Woods. They’ve tried Scottie with Sam Burns, they’ve tried him with all and sundry. But Russell Henley is Scottie’s guy. And these two are unbreakable. Mentally. They are so strong. They’re good buddies. They pair off well against each other. So you knew they were going to be a grouping in terms of Scottie and Russ. And as for Ludwig and Fitzy, Ludwig and Viktor were a fantastic pairing because of language and such like that. But as I look at this now, because I questioned the grouping and questioned a splitting Ludwig and Viktor, but Matt Fitzpatrick plays a really calculated, really well crafted sort of a game. And I feel like with Ludwig hitting him off the tee into the fairway, Fitz could have a whole lot of fun with the iron game. So the more I look at this in foursomes, the more I like this group of the euro’s. Yeah, I think both of these duos are super complimentary skill set wise. Like you mentioned, Mark Russell Henley is going to put the ball in the fairway. He’s probably the shortest hitter of the eight that are going on Friday morning, but he’s going to be in the middle of the fairway every single time for Scottie Scheffler and vice versa, honestly. And if Henley tees off on those even holes, he’s going to have plenty of wedges and Scheffler fees. Goes off on the odds. Mid to long irons where we know he’s by far the best in the world. And then on the flip side, Ludvig Oberg is still a tremendous driver of the golf ball and if there is a little bit of a hiccup, I would say it is kind of on the greens or around the greens a little bit. And that’s really where Matt Fitzpatrick has thrived throughout 2025. I will say I am a little concerned because I do think Matt Fitzpatrick’s Ryder Cup record does weigh on his mind just a little bit. One, seven and zero across three Ryder Cups has not have a good time in the United States. 2016, when he came in as a 21 year old, did not go well, neither did Whistling Straits. So I’m interested to see Ludvig his first time in the United States alongside Matt Fitzpatrick. Let’s go to the next one. Those guys, by the way, at 726, working down the line here, we have Rory and Tommy Fleetwood. Maybe no surprise there versus Collin Morikawa and Harris English Mark with Rory and Tommy. They’re so familiar with each other they’ve played together before. How big of an advantage is that here? It’s a big advantage. And you look at the two of them and, you know, like I said to Patrick before we went hot on the show that you can throw resumes out the window as soon as the first tee goes in the ground tomorrow morning. Because you’ve got to manage emotion, you’ve got to bring game and such. And as far as form goes, I want to say about Matt Fitzpatrick, his form has been incredible running into this Ryder Cup. Obviously Tommy Fleetwood has as well. And then there’s Rory who’s found a lot of game here recently. And his last outing he won in an emotional victory at home in Ireland, where he came back and chased down the young man, the Swede that he was playing against and eventually won the tournament. So guys with a lot of form there and not just and not just a complementary pairing in Rory and Tommy, they are playing well. And as far as Harris English and Collin Morikawa are concerned, that match is going to be a handful for them and they better bring all their game. Yeah, Rory and Fleetwood are going to be a very difficult task for Morikawa and English to handle. I do like how Luke Donald kind of moved up. McIlroy and Fleetwood around. You go back to 2023. They let off the afternoon session. They played anchor in the morning session that Friday. I know in Rome, McIlroy specifically wanted Cantlay and Xander to kind of shut up that perfect record that Xander and Cantlay had in foursomes, and he certainly did that. But I look at this United States pairing and I had I have a number of questions for Keegan Bradley. You look at these eight players on the golf course outside of English and Morikawa, many of them are the longest in the field, the exception being Russell Henley who has paired so beautifully with Scottie Scheffler. I think that’s an okay outlier. But this Morikawa English group, neither of them hit it very far. I think that could be detrimental for him. We’re going to find out very quickly what kind of Collin Morikawa we have in this Ryder Cup. If it’s good, he’s going to be able to really put the United States over the top, maybe threaten Fleetwood and McIlroy in this match. But if it’s bad, we’re going to find out very quickly. All right, Patrick, you have a lot of questions there. So let’s go to our last foursome. We have Robert McIntyre and Viktor Hovland on the European side, Xander Schauffele Patrick Cantlay on the American side. They are very good friends. Patrick do you do you like this one maybe a little bit more I do, I think this is probably going to be the tightest match of the morning. If I had to guess Xander and Cantlay, they have been great in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cups together, specifically in foursomes. They have probably a few more question marks with their game coming into this year. Not quite in the form like they were in 2023 or 2021. Xander missing the Tour Championship for the first time in his career. Cantlay kind of finding some form with his putter with new coach Phil Kenyon. So that is a positive for that team. And then on the flip side, the European team, I think pairing Viktor Hovland with a good driver of the golf ball in Bobby McIntyre in a very good short game, chipper and pitcher of the golf ball in. Bobby McIntyre is really great for Viktor because he was the second best player on the PGA tour, behind only Scottie Scheffler in 2025. If he gets plenty of iron opportunities, he is going to convert on those and we’ve seen Viktor Hovland on the greens in big moments, convert big putts, so I’m really looking forward to this match. I would not be surprised if it goes the distance. Patrick, you made a really good observation. When you use the term over the top and as I’m if I’m a captain here and I’m looking at the final match, the anchor match, because as we’ve kind of broken down these first three games, it looks pretty evenly matched. And so you’re looking for that anchor match to be able to come through. And they’re going to come through for you with a point whether it’s a half a point or hopefully a full point. Now as it pertains to Zander and Cantlay, they really have been an immovable force in foursomes. But Zander, the form has not been so great and he hasn’t played competitively since the playoffs. So for me the verdict is out a little bit, even though he’s so decorated. Patrick Cantlay Well we know he has ice in the veins, so I feel like putting that combination back together is going to almost lift something in Xander Schauffele and toughen up that pairing. And then you look across the ring at Bobby Mac and Viktor Hovland. Well Viktor is kind of cool and crazy and he’s got a beautiful mind and nothing really fazes him. And when he was asked about, what are you going to deal with the people heckling you? And he goes, look, whatever they say is not going to be as bad as what I’ve got going on in my head. And Bobby Mac is like, Braveheart. He’s up for everything. So. So this is the kind of match where I look at the euros and those two guys are tough. I look at the Americans and those two guys are tough. So it’s almost the ultimate matchup of anchor groups, and this one is going to be a fun one to watch. It is interesting how much personalities come in to to to all of this and kind of where their mindset is when they move around the golf course. Mark, let me ask you this. We talked to Shane Bacon earlier and he said he thought it would be Team Europe having the lead going into the weekend. He actually thinks they are going to win the entire thing. When you look at the foursomes, how things are going to start. Has anything changed in your mind with how this tournament is going to unfold? You want to try and get the advantage? Amanda, as far as possible. Now that’s no guarantee because there’s still a lot of golf left. But if you’re the Europeans, you want to kind of quieten the crowd as much as you can. And if you can get a split in this thing, something like two and a half, one and a half foursomes tomorrow morning, that will go a long way to their cause. As for the Americans, exactly the opposite. If you get out there, you get a bunch of red on the board early. You whip this crowd up, then all of a sudden, that 13th man, the New York fans that everyone talks about, then they really brought into play and then it could get I’m not going to say a romp because there’s a lot of golf, but you could really stack the odds in your favor. So tomorrow morning’s session is very important, and I feel like it’s going to be nip and tuck, and I am a bit curious how Keegan Bradley is going to deploy the rest of his rookies, hitting three of them in this morning’s session. The case could be made that they were the most in-form players behind just Scottie Scheffler with how well Ben Griffin, Cam Young and JJ Spaun have played this last half of the season, and so I wouldn’t be surprised if Morikawa plays poorly tomorrow morning if JJ Spaun slots into that foursomes grouping with Harris English come Saturday morning. But I’m in a pretty similar boat as Mark. I think this is going to be two two down the board. I think Europe takes the first and the third match, and I think USA takes the second and the fourth, and then we’ll just see what happens in four ball in the afternoon, where I do believe the USA does have a slight advantage. So I see the red, white and blue taking the lead into the weekend by a very thin margin. But if it is two two in the morning, I think that does technically mean a win for the US, just given how poorly foursomes has been for them in the past. I’m glad you mentioned Colin, because I was just reading about how he said that the practice fans have been very tame, and he is calling for absolute chaos on Friday, so hopefully we get it. That is what we as fans want to see on television. When it comes to the Ryder Cup. Within reason, Mark, within reason. Look, you have very good manners. We’ll try to have good manners as people are cheering along. Wait, wait, wait, I’m an American citizen now, so I’ve got I don’t have divided interests. So okay, I’m pulling I’m pulling for my buddies to play. Well, how about we say it that way? That’s that’s a good way to put it. Enjoy. Tomorrow morning. I know you guys will have your alarm set nice and early. Patrick McDonald and Mark Immelman as well. If you’d like maybe some betting information. I will tell you the odds of change just slightly when it comes to who they think will win this. Right now, the U.S. is in a slight lead right now, according to our partners at FanDuel. But get some good info fro