Ryder Cup: Previews, predictions for each of the Friday four-ball matches
This Ryder Cup features all ten of the top-ranked players in the Official World Golf Ranking. This match alone features three of them. Dustin Johnson (No. 1) and Rickie Fowler (No. 9) look to take out arguably the biggest star of Team Europe, Rory McIlroy (No. 6) and Thorbjorn Olesen (No. 45).
The experience edge in this matchup, as with many that we’ll see this week, favors the American duo of Johnson and Fowler. Both are making their fourth Ryder Cup appearance. McIlroy tips the scales a bit in his fifth consecutive start (at just 29 years old), but Olesen makes his debut at one of the sport’s most historic events.
Ian Poulter is largely known as the voice, heart and soul of Team Europe in the Cup, but he may have ceded that title to Rory McIlroy. He showed an incredible ease with the pressure in 2016 at Hazeltine, almost egging the crowd and his competitors on with every putt.
"“I like having a target on my back. I embrace that – bring it on,” McIlroy told The Telegraph. “I’ll have that again here, but in Europe I’ll also have the support of the crowd. Definitely in the last one, at Hazeltine, I felt like I didn’t have a target on my back just from the US team, but from the fans as well. But I like it. Your back is up against the wall and you have to produce.”"
McIlroy does boast a 3-2-2 record in career four-ball matches, so he’s no easy out. DJ (2-4-0) and Fowler (0-1-2) are both better, statistically, in other formats, and as with many other matches, their ability to simply bomb the ball will be negated a bit at Le Golf National.
I actually think this matchup comes down to Fowler on the American side, not Johnson. His more balanced approach will be a solid counterpoint to McIlroy.
Because of that, we also can’t sleep on Thorbjorn Olesen. The winner of the 2018 Italian Open has six top-tens worldwide this year, and he was the final automatic qualifier for the team. He deserves to be here, although it remains to be seen how he’ll handle such a star-studded match.
I think this match, like the first, goes down to the final hole. If it didn’t feel like a total cop-out, I’d actually predict it as the first halved match of the Ryder Cup. But, a winner must be named, and I’m giving this one to Europe as McIlroy gets the Paris crowd worked into a frenzy.