Big Guns to Get Ryder Cup Under Way

So know we now. When the Ryder Cup gets under way at 8am tomorrow, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk will be standing on the first tee, with Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie aside them.

There might have been plenty of talk about "mutual respect" and "sportsmanship" in today's opening ceremony, but these pairings - the best, surely, on both sides - was surely a statement of intent from both captains.

"The first point is important, so I think you want to lead with your best," said US captain Tom Lehman,

Ian Woosnam was equally forthright. "My motto is 'I'm not scared of anybody, not even Tiger Woods'. Let's get this match started. Monty always just seems to raise his game for this tournament. He stands on that first tee and changes into a different person. I think Monty and Padraig will be up for it."

Montgomerie's reaction to the draw was predictable for a player who has lost only two of his last 18 Ryder Cup matches. "I'm really looking forward to it," commented the Scot. "I wanted to partner Padraig again. It's almost my role to lead us out. Whether I play again I don't care - to start off this thing is great."

The second game of the opening fourballs is the one that produces the biggest surprise of the two line-ups. New World Match Play champion Paul Casey is partnered not by Luke Donald or David Howell - ninth and 13th in the world and therefore two of Woosnam's top four players - but by uncapped Swede Robert Karlsson. Donald and Howell are left out completely.

They play wild card Stewart Cink and one of the their four rookies, JJ Henry, followed by Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal against David Toms and Brett Wetterich, another of the little-known Americans.

Finally - and no surprise in this at all - it is Mickelson and Chris DiMarco against Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, remarkably part of the action less than six weeks after his wife Heather lost her battle with cancer.

Donald and Howell can expect to be brought in for the afternoon foursomes, but when Paul McGinley and Henrik Stenson play is harder to say, while Lehman has Scott Verplank, Chad Campbell, Zach Johnson and Vaughn Taylor waiting in the wings.

Both captains have stated it is their intention that everybody plays at least once before Sunday's singles. "Obviously it's a very, very hard job to leave anybody out of our team," added Woosnam. "I've got nine players in the top 25 in the world and Stenson [11th], Donald and Howell are right up there. It's difficult to tell them players they are not playing. Everybody is playing well, someone is going to be dropped."

He added that the Casey-Karlsson combination was something he decided only on Wednesday night. "Casey has just won the World Match Play and Robert is playing exceptionally well. They hit the ball extremely long and I think length is a big thing on this course."