Woods rested; all 24 players feature on Ryder Cup opening day

All 24 players were given matches on day one of the Ryder Cup after Thomas Bjorn and Jim Furyk rang the changes for the afternoon foursomes.

Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia on Le Golf National's first tee.

Tiger Woods was rested for the afternoon foursomes at Le Golf National as both captains opted to utilise their full 12-men squads on day one of the Ryder Cup.

Woods and Patrick Reed, who were involved in a morning fourball contest with Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood that went down to the wire, dropped out of the US team together with Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, the pairing who came from two down to beat Justin Rose and Jon Rahm on the last.

Friday Afternoon #RyderCup Foursome

Match 1: Stenson/Rose vs Johnson/Fowler
Match 2: McIlroy/Poulter vs Watson/Simpson
Match 3: Garcia/Noren vs Mickelson/DeChambeau
Match 4: Molinari/Fleetwood vs Thomas/Spieth pic.twitter.com/Ao8fJdne8Q

— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) September 28, 2018

 

European skipper Thomas Bjorn predictably called upon veteran wildcards Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia for the second session, with Molinari and Fleetwood the only pairing to be retained.

READ | USA turns the tide during morning fourballs

The host looked set to have plenty of work to do in the afternoon, having lost the first three matches to finish. Rory McIlroy was picked to partner Poulter, despite the Northern Irishman failing to register a single birdie as he and Thorbjorn Olesen were beaten 4 and 2 by Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler in the fourballs. Stenson and Rose, a formidable pairing at Gleneagles four years ago, were reunited, while Garcia came in alongside Alex Noren, the only European rookie not called upon in the morning.

Team USA kept faith in the Johnson/Fowler and Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas pairings.

Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson were selected to take on McIlroy and Poulter, while Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau had the challenge of facing Garcia and Noren.