The wait is almost over. After much fanfare and flamboyance at today's opening ceremony, captains Ian Woosnam and Tom Lehman announced that Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie will play Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk in a mouth watering top match in the fourballs tomorrow morning.
On the whole there wasn't too much second-guessing when the pairings were announced for the opening series of matches which get under way from 8.00am tomorrow. Woosnam opted to go for strength from the top and it's something he thought his American counterpart would also do.
"I thought they (the Americans) would come out as strong as they possibly could and I expected Tiger and Jim to be off first. I also had an inkling that Phil Mickelson and Chris Dimarco would be off last," the European captain said.
What that means is the final American pair will take on the formidable partnership of Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood to neatly bookend the opening morning's play with two gripping matches.
In between Woosie went somewhat surprisingly with Paul Casey and rookie Robert Karlsson, who will play against wild card pick Stewart Cink and one of Lehman's four rookies in JJ Henry.
The third match sees an all-Spanish affair as the might of Sergio Garcia and European Ryder Cup veteran Jose Maria Olazabal team-up to take on the steady hand of David Toms, who is flanked by a second American rookie in Brett Wetterich.
"I think with Padraig and Colin off first and Darren and Lee off last, I think it's going to be two fantastic fourballs," added Woosnam who admitted to being somewhat surprised at some of Lehman's selections.
"It's always going to be difficult for Tom who he is going to play with David (Toms) or Stewart (Cink). I thought it might have been Chad Campbell but he's obviously put whoever he feels is playing the best and I've done the same."
Lehman also expected to see Monty in the top match for the Europeans. "There's no surprise there," he said having reunited his two big names (Woods and Furyk) after they performed well together in the Presidents Cup. "I'm not surprised in the least who's playing that match.
"I pretty much expected that and they probably expected who we have out as well. I knew they would put a pretty strong team out and I know that Monty generally likes to go out first. There wasn't a certainty that Monty and Padraig would be in that first group but there was a likelihood."
The surprise on the European side is the omission of Luke Donald. Many were sure the Englishman would feature in the first round of matches, perhaps playing alongside Casey instead of Karlsson.
"I decided last night on that pairing and that's why they went out together today to give them a chance to play," said Woosnam, referring to Casey and Karlsson. "I don't think it was based on personalities but it's more the way they play, they both hit it extremely long.
Last time around at Oakland Hills the Harrington/Monty combination set the tone for the tournament when they claimed the biggest scalp of all by beating Woods and Mickelson. That particular American combination proved to backfire on then captain Hal Sutton as the two best player in the world then went out in the afternoon and lost again, this time at the hands of Clarke and Westwood.
What tomorrow's pairings indicate is that Paul McGinley will have wait to make his Ryder Cup appearance on home soil. It comes as no great surprise to see the Dubliner sidelined at this stage for he came into the matches on a low ebb and loss of form. Since then he claims to have it turned around and only time will tell as both captains intend using all 12 of their players before Sunday's singles matches.
Tomorrow's afternoon foursomes pairings will be announced upon completion of the fourball matches around lunchtime.
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