Ryder Cup Pairings Strategy: How Captains Decide Foursomes And Four-Ball

The first day of matches at the 45th Ryder Cup is approaching.

Captains Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald will make their pairings announcements at 4 p.m. ET for the Friday Foursomes morning session on Sept. 26. But fans may be wondering... how do those pairings get decided?

Let's break it down:

Picking the Pairs

There's plenty of strategy that goes into these selections for Bradley and Donald. Over the last few days at Bethpage Black, the captains have placed players in groupings, trying to pair similar personalities, complementary games and other factors to create duos that can accomplish the ultimate goal at the Ryder Cup: win points.

The Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday practice groups are an indication of perhaps which players will be paired with each other, but ultimately it comes down to the captains' decision. Before 4 p.m. ET, Bradley and Donald will submit their selections for Friday morning Foursomes to tournament officials separately.

The Pairings Announcement Process

At 4 p.m. ET, the decision everyone has been waiting for gets rolling. Bradley and Donald do not know each other's selections, since they were submitted to tournament officials independently.

The captains will then announce their selections, alternating between each until all four Foursomes sessions have their matchups. After that occurs on Thursday evening, here's how the rest of the Ryder Cup goes:

• Friday Afternoon Four-Ball: Team selections are submitted at 11:40 a.m. ET for afternoon pairings.
• Saturday Morning Foursomes: Team selections are submitted up to one hour after the conclusion of play following Friday afternoon Four-Ball.
• Saturday Afternoon Four-Ball: Team selections are submitted at 11:40 a.m. ET for afternoon pairings.
• Sunday Singles: Team selections are submitted up to one hour after the conclusion of play following Saturday afternoon Four-Ball.