Colin Montgomerie on the practice range during the first official practice day of The 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)

Woosnam Gives First Hint at Pairings

The first practice session of The 2006 Ryder Cup got underway at 7.30am this morning with the American Team getting their first look at the Palmer Course from the first tee and the Europeans heading off from the tenth.

Michael Gibbons, Press Officer
19 September 2006

Ian Woosnam gave the world a first insight into his potential pairings for the opening two days of The 2006 Ryder Cup as his European Team embarked on their first practice round at The K Club.

Starting on the tenth tee, Europe’s most experienced Team member and highest points scorer, Colin Montgomerie of Scotland, led the way with Englishman David Howell, with former WGC – World Cup winners Paul Casey and Luke Donald of England alongside them.

Next up for Europe were the Team’s two rookies, the Swedish duo of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, sharing the tee with Spain’s Sergio Garcia and José Maria Olazábal.

There was a special welcome from the gathering crowds as the last European fourball of the morning stepped on to the tee, with Irishmen Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley, another two who partnered each other to World Cup glory in 1997, joining Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.

The Irish crowd roared their delight at seeing the three home players together on the tee, with Clarke receiving the most support of all the European Team as he cracked his first drive of the week down the fairway in the company of his fellow Wild Card Westwood..

Over on the first tee, meanwhile, Team USA got their practice schedule off and running with arguably the most expected pairing of The Ryder Cup, World’s Numbers One and Two, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.

They were joined by Scott Verplank and Brett Wetterich, with Chris Di Marco and Phil Mickleson playing alongside Davis Toms and Chad Campbell in the USA’s second practice group, and Vaughn Taylor and Zach Johnson playing with Stewart Cink and JJ Henry in Tom Lehman’s third group.