29 September 2023 , 09:15
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Zach Johnson's Ryder Cup started with a bold call, and it has backfired for the Team USA captain after a nightmare start at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.
Johnson made a controversial choice with his first pairing for the Friday foursomes. While world number one Scottie Scheffler and close friend Sam Burns may seem a natural pairing on the face of it, the data would say otherwise with their strengths not complimenting each other in the alternate shot format.
Golf Channel pundit Brandel Chamblee slammed the decision when it was announced on Thursday afternoon, and his prediction materialised, with Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton getting Europe off to a flying start with a 4&3 victory in the opening match of the weekend.
Burns was preferred over major champions Brooks Koepka, Jordan Speith, Justin Thomas and Wyndham Clark, who sat out the opening session, and Johnson's gamble did not pay off. Burns, 27, may not be seen again until Sunday's singles after a torrid debut outing in Rome.
"Generally speaking not a lot of surprises (in the pairings), but one big surprise, in that Scheffler is playing with Burns in foursomes," Chamblee said after Thursday's opening ceremony. "Everyone thought they would play together in the fourballs, but in foursomes, you are typically looking for players who are not going to make that many mistakes tee to green.
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"In Burns, you've got strokes gained, approach strokes gained off of the tee he is the worst player on the team. And in good old-fashioned statistics like driving accuracy, greens in regulation, he is the worst player on that team.
"I don't know why you would choose to mitigate the ball-striking strengths of Scottie Scheffler, with the absolute worst ball-striker on the US team. That is a big head-scratcher for me."
Rookie Sam Burns endured a nightmare Ryder Cup debut after being sent out in the opening match. (Scott Taetsch/PGA of America via Getty Images)Scheffler and rookie Burns were outplayed from start to finish by the European duo, with the Spaniard in fine form. He cracked the flagstick on the par-three seventh, going so close to a hole-in-one. But Hatton tapped in to put the Europeans two ahead.
And their advantage only grew from there, with Burns' waywardness from the tee boxes and fairways costing his partner badly. Chamblee predicted their struggles, and he believes Johnson should have seen them coming.
"They played in the Presidents Cup, against a weaker team, and they didn't win a foursomes match," he continued. "Day one, they played See-Woo Kim and Cameron Davis, that's a combined world ranking of 142 - they lost. They played KH Lee and Tom Kim, that's a combined world rank of 63, they lost.
"They are playing Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, a combined world rank of 14. We know how important it is to win that first match. It is a real surprise."
Burns' woes were summed up on the 14th. With Europe four up with five to play, the World Matchplay champion stepped up to the tee and hooked his drive wildly to the left of the short grass, leaving his teammate in awful shape to find the putting surface.
The hole was halved, sending the match dormie four, and the contest was wrapped up on the 15th with another half, as Rahm and Hatton surged to a dominant win that may have set the tone for the rest of the weekend.