Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns to open Ryder Cup for Americans - ESPN

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy — European team captain Luke Donald is hoping for a fast start at this week's Ryder Cup, which tees off Friday morning at Marco Simone outside Rome.

As captain of the home team, Donald elected to start with foursomes (alternate shot) matches on Friday morning. It's the first time the Ryder Cup will start with foursomes since 1993, which was the last time the Americans won a Ryder Cup outside of the U.S. The U.S. team hasn't won on foreign soil since a 15-13 victory at the Belfry in Warwickshire, England.

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns will take on Spain's Jon Rahm and England's Tyrrell Hatton in the first match. Scheffler has won six times on the PGA Tour the past two seasons, but struggled mightily with his putting in 2023. Burns ranked fourth on tour in total putting and seventh in one-putt percentage (43.83%).

Open Championship winner Brian Harman and six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa, a pair of Ryder Cup rookies, will face Norway's Viktor Hovland and former Texas Tech star Ludvig Aberg in the second match. Hovland won twice during the FedEx Cup playoffs, including the Tour Championship, and is ranked fourth in the world. Aberg will also be playing in his first Ryder Cup.

In the third match, Ryder Cup veteran Rickie Fowler and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa will play Ireland's Shane Lowry and Austria's Sepp Straka, another European first-timer. Fowler is making his fifth Ryder Cup appearance and first since 2018. He'll try to improve his 3-7-5 record in the event, which includes a 1-3-2 mark in foursomes.

One of the American team's most reliable pairings, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, will play in the final match and will face Northern Ireland's Rory