Ryder Cup TV and news: Bjorn’s ‘dread’, Friday pairings and opening ceremony start time

2018 Ryder Cup guide

What: Team Europe vs. Team USAWhen: 28-30 SeptemberWhere: Le Golf National, ParisWebsite: rydercup.com 

The excitement is building at Le Golf National near Paris as the Ryder Cup captains prepare to reveal their pairings for tomorrow morning’s opening fourball session.

Before Europe’s Thomas Bjorn and Team USA’s Jim Furyk name their choices later today the Ryder Cup “captain’s match” and the opening ceremony will take place.

The captain’s match sees former skippers from both Europe and the USA go head-to-head in a ten-hole scramble, Sky Sports reports. Then at 4pm the opening ceremony will introduce the 2018 stars and tomorrow’s first-session pairings.

In 2016 at Hazeltine the US won all four opening fourball matches and this set them up for a 17-11 overall victory.

Europe captain Bjorn admits he dreads experiencing the same kind of start that 2016 skipper Darren Clarke faced. Bjorn told Sky Sports: “You don’t want to fall behind and see your whole plan that you’ve laid out falling apart in that first session.

“That’s what it did for Darren. You know, it’s not easy as a captain. I would dread being 0-4 down after Friday morning’s session, but I think any captain would do that. That’s not a great place to be.”

Today at the Ryder Cup

What time is the opening ceremony?

The Ryder Cup opening ceremony will start at 4pm today (UK time).

When will the Friday morning pairings be announced?

rydercup.com confirms that the Team Europe and Team USA pairings for Friday morning’s opening fourball session will be announced shortly after the players are introduced at the opening ceremony.  

Friday afternoon foursome pairings

The second session pairings for the afternoon foursomes will be submitted by captains Thomas Bjorn and Jim Furyk between 11.35am and 12.05pm tomorrow.

“As the opening session draws to a close, both captain Bjorn and Furyk will have a short window of time to make any necessary adjustments before they set their line-up for the afternoon foursomes matches, which is an alternate-shot format,” says rydercup.com.

Saturday morning pairings

One hour after the play finishes on Friday the Saturday morning pairings are submitted by the skippers.

Saturday afternoon pairings

Afternoon pairings are submitted between 11.35am and 12.05pm on Saturday. rydercup.com says: “With the point totals beginning to add up, each captain will have a better sense of how his players are faring, and the submission of Saturday afternoon’s foursome pairings offer captain Bjorn one final chance to send out the strongest two-man teams, as well as rest key players before all 12 compete in the Sunday singles matches.”

Schedule and tee times 

Defending champions Team USA will tee off first at 7.10am in the Friday morning fourball matches.

Friday 28 September (all times UK)

• Friday morning fourball tee times: 7.10am, 7.25am, 7.40am, 7.55am 
• Friday afternoon foursomes tee times: 12.50pm, 1.05pm, 1.20pm, 1.35pm

For the full schedule see our Ryder Cup guide. 

How to watch the Ryder Cup on TV

Sky Sports will broadcast live from Le Golf National in Paris. All times UK.

Thursday 27 September

• 12pm-2.30pm: Ryder Cup Captain’s Match (Sky Sports Ryder Cup, Sky Sports Mix, Sky Sports Main Event)  
• 2.30pm-4pm: Ryder Cup Preview Show (Sky Sports Ryder Cup, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Mix)  
• 4pm-5.30pm: Opening Ceremony (Sky Sports Ryder Cup, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Mix) 
• 6.30pm-7pm: Ryder Cup Countdown (Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Ryder Cup, Sky Sports Main Event)