I hope that everyone's looking forward to the Ryder Cup as much as I am - only a week more to go before we see Europe take it for the 4th time in a row. I'm not trying to sound cocky, but I can't see it going any other way.
Interestingly, Paddy Power have tilted the odds in the last few days to make the US marginal favourites. Now, the only reason I can see for this is that they've been taking in a lot of money on the States...my brother advanced the theory that with Clarke out of the frame, the Irish have lost faith in Faldo's men. I personally am going to go out on a limb and predict an 18-10 victory for Europe. You'd probably get about 66/1 on that, and I won't even charge a commission.
Recently, I saw the Sky Sports men discussing their favourite Ryder Cup moments in history. I'm happy to say that mine is particularly relevant to this particular match, as it involves Paul Azinger. Who could forget his heroic bunker shot on the last in the Belfry in 2002, snatching victory from the hands of Nicals Fasth and Europe, and keeping the Cup alive, even if only for another hole. Even at the time, I was delighted to see it drop, although I was watching it in the bar in my own golf club, and I've never heard a louder profanity shouted in unison when the ball disappeared.
Anyway, who's Faldo going to send out on the tee next Friday morning? It's an interesting question; some captains have held rookies back, even waiting till the singles (1999 - Sandelin, Coltart and Van de Velde only got one match each, on Sunday). This year, though, you just have to look at the quality of the rookies. Justin Rose, a rookie? Surely not!
It's easy to oversimplify pairings, and suggest that fellow countrymen partner each other, but it can't be denied that it can often be the right choice. I for one think that Jimenez and Sergio would complement each other extremely well, and Graeme McDowell's already put forward a fervent hope that he'll get to play with Padraig Harrington.
I'd be a little surprised if Faldo sent out Oliver Wilson on Friday morning, but I'd be delighted. I think he's going to be a Ryder Cup hero in many matches, including this one. He's a magnificent player, and the guts he showed last Friday week in Gleneagles are just the sort you want inside a player who you're counting on to make the shot or putt when you need it.
I think he'd be great with Harrington, Sergio, and McDowell in particular, and I hope Oliver gets a run out in both a fourball and a foursome (at least) before Sunday.
If McDowell wants to play with Harrington, then that's probably the best for him - it's what he's most comfortable with, but we'll have to see. I think he'd be a great partner for Paul Casey and Lee Westwood as well.
I suppose you've got to look at who's going to be out there everyday. Realistically, and for Faldo ideally, he's going to play Sergio, Westwood, and Harrington every match. That only leaves five spots for the first four sections.
When Poulter comes out to play, I'd like to see him with one of his countrymen, Rose or Casey, and I think I'd go with Casey. I think the wildcards could team up well to take a point or two. Casey and Rose themselves would also be a great pairing.
What about the Scandinavians? I'm not the greatest Stenson fan, but I reckon he'll get two or three games before his singles match, possibly with Karlsson, again, going with the pair of Swedes. I think Karlsson could be the ideal match for our final rookie, Soren Hansen - I'll plump for them in a fourball on one of the afternoons.
As you can see from the last however many lines, Europe can pair most players with any others and have a great partnership.
Europe's esprit de corp has always been our greatest strength, and I'm convinced it's going to take us over the line once again, added to the fact that this time we actually do just have better players.
I'm not going to bore you with what I think Zinger should do - I'd love to see Boo Weekley and Anthony Kim pair up - I think they'd be a formidable duo, but he might want to use them to prop up other pairings. Cink will be a mainstay of the team once again - he's been out of form of late after his great start to the year, but I'm confident he'll up it again for the match. Just remember him kicking the stuffing out of a till-then impeccable Sergio on Sunday in 2006 - pity he was the only USAsian who was making them look good.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back again with more of my thoughts, so I'll say goodbye for the moment, and I hope you enjoy the weekend. There's some great golf being played in Germany this week, and after one round I'm going to go with the man two shots off the lead, the man who was so close to making Valhalla himself, and who'll feature in several Ryder Cups in the future.
Good luck Ross Fisher.
Take care.
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