Foursomes pairings should give US early Ryder Cup lead

The Ryder Cup is finally here and based on the pairings for the opening foursomes, 11/2 looks a decent price that the US gain an early lead of 2.5 points to 1.5.

Alternatively, the US are available at 7/4 to simply win the foursomes.

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell to tie with Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker @ 6/1

Jose Maria Olazabal has arguably opted to put out his strongest team first and the pressure will certainly be on McDowell and McIlroy to start well.

The US team are unlikely to give much away, with Furyk accurate in much that he does without being sensational and Snedeker potentially the best putter at the event.

Europe’s added distance of the tee will be an advantage, but this looks nailed on to be close and so the tie looks decent value.

Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia to beat Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley @ 10/11

Europe’s dream team as far as foursomes go, with Donald winning all six previous matches in this format at the Ryder Cup and Garcia unbeaten in nine, including eight victories.

This record should strike fear into the US and if Bradley gets the early wobbles on his Ryder Cup debut, this could be over fairly quickly.

Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson to beat Lee Westwood and Francesco Molinari @ 11/10

This is another one that will be close and will probably the most unspectacular of the foursomes.

Molinari has not missed a cut on the European Tour this season and Johnson has made 23 from 24 on the PGA Tour, this pair will be steady.

The worry for Europe was the troubles of Lee Westwood when finishing last at the Tour Championship and the hope will be he has ironed out any creases in his game.

If below par, Dufner tends to be stronger in the earlier rounds of tournaments before slightly fading and this suggests he could have a hot streak here.

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker to beat Ian Poulter and Justin Rose @ 1/1

This is the biggest clash of the session and Rose and Poulter will be nothing but competitive.

The Europe duo took two points from a possible three at the 2008 Ryder Cup, but they may be fairly helpless if Woods brings his best form of recent weeks.

Woods and Stricker were dominant in tandem at the last Presidents Cup and they could produce something similar here.

All odds and markets correct as of publication