Ryder Cup captains use practice round groupings to test potential pairings for the competition.
The U.S. and European teams held practice sessions at Bethpage Black ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Speculation suggests Europe may stick with successful 2023 pairings, while the U.S. will feature new combinations.
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Four names beneath a tee time for a practice round can seem trivial. At a Ryder Cup, it’s telling.
Captains of both the U.S. and Europe sides assigned these foursomes for a reason – likely because the pairs in the group will be playing partners at some point during the first two days of Ryder Cup competition, which features foursomes (alternate shot) and fourball (best ball) matches on Friday and Saturday.
Here’s a look at how the practice pairings over the first two warm-up sessions have panned out. With the weather looking questionable Thursday, practice time at Bethpage Black could be over.
2025 Ryder Cup practice round groupings
Europe Group 1 (Tuesday): Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose
Europe Group 2 (Tuesday): Rasmus Højgaard, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka
Europe Group 3 (Tuesday): Ludvig Åberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm
Europe Group 1 (Wednesday): Hatton, Lowry, Rahm, Straka
Europe Group 2 (Wednesday): Fitzpatrick, Hovland, MacIntyre, McIlroy
Europe Group 3 (Wednesday): Åberg, Højgaard, Fleetwood, Rose
U.S. Group 1 (Tuesday): Harris English, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
U.S. Group 2 (Tuesday): Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, Ben Griffin
U.S. Group 3 (Tuesday): Sam Burns, JJ Spaun, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele
U.S. Group 1 (Wednesday): DeChambeau, Thomas, Griffin, Young
U.S. Group 2 (Wednesday): English, Henley, Scheffler, Spaun
U.S. Group 3 (Wednesday): Burns, Cantlay, Morikawa, Schauffele
Predicting 2025 Ryder Cup Friday foursomes (alternate shot)
Earlier this week, U.S. captain Keegan Bradley said his matchups and pairings have been ’90 percent’ decided. Europe captain Luke Donald has 11 of 12 players returning (Højgaard replacing his twin brother, Nicolai). This isn’t rocket science, but until the matchups are formally announced Thursday evening, speculation is as close as we can get.
Europe swept the foursome session to start the 2023 Ryder Cup so let’s assume Donald doesn’t change much:
Rahm/Hatton
Fleetwood/McIlroy
Åberg/Hovland
Straka/Lowry
The Americans will definitely have a different look, however, since Thomas’ buddy Jordan Spieth isn’t on this team.
Scheffler/Henley
Schauffele/Cantlay
Thomas/Griffin
DeChambeau/Spaun
How the best ball pairings shake out could depend on the morning, with Scheffler and DeChambeau likely doubling up for the Americans and McIlroy and Rahm doing the same for Europe.
