2015 Presidents Cup: Match schedule, pairings announced for Friday’s four-ball session

We should know pretty early in Friday’s second session at the Presidents Cup whether this will be a competition going into the weekend. USA captain Jay Haas put his heaviest hitters and strongest teams at the front of the rotation for Friday’s Four-ball session, choosing to lead off with the power pairing of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson. Those two anchored the first session.

All of the American partnerships, aside from Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar, looked strong in Thursday’s opening session. Three of the five pairings never trailed, so it made sense that Haas would keep the duos together. Johnson and Spieth were the headline group, but really everyone cleaned up in the alternate-shot format. Haas will lead with the four winning pairs on Friday, then sit Reed and Kuchar and put Bill Haas and Chris Kirk out in the anchor match for their first appearance in this 2015 Cup.

In a 4-1 hole and desperate to even things up before the weekend, International captain Nick Price did the opposite of Haas and switched almost everything up for the second session. He did keep Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen together. They were the only pair to win a point on Thursday, and the two South Africans are extremely comfortable playing together and are good friends. That opening clash against Johnson-Spieth may set the tone for the rest of the Cup and whether it tilts to another blowout or becomes competitive.

For his second pairing, Price put the two Korean-born players together and will try to whip up the home crowd in Incheon City. Sangmoon Bae, the only Korean on the team, did not play the first day. That was a Price decision that was criticized but the captain said he was planning to play Bae with Charl Schwartzel, and Schwartzel was too ill to go on Day 1. But on Friday, he curiously broke that supposed pairing up and put Bae with Danny Lee, a New Zealand citizen who was born nearby in Korea. They’ll face, perhaps, the USA’s strongest duo in Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler.

Price switched things up in the third match as well, putting two of his strongest players and superstars together in Jason Day and Adam Scott. They have played together in this event before and won the two-man World Cup event. But it’s sometimes dangerous putting two big guns together. If they get taken out, it can be demoralizing. They draw Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson, who looked extremely tough to beat and edged Day on Thursday.

The good news for the Internationals is that the four-ball format has been much friendlier over the years. Their alternate shot record is an ugly 24-points under .500, but they actually have a winning record in four-ball during this run of recent blowout Cup losses.

They’ll need to win the session to make it a game and hopefully the change to best ball will improve their chances. Price is switching everything up and throwing it all at the US to try and get back in it.

Here’s the lineup for Friday’s four-ball session: