Potential Ryder Cup pairings based on which balls players play

When Ryder Cup captains make teams for Foursomes play, they have an additional — and not insignificant — consideration that’s not present in Four-balls: the golf ball. Two teammates share a ball for alternate shot, opening the possibility that one must use a ball with which he is unfamiliar. A high-speed, high-spin player (say, Bryson DeChambeau) playing a ball that’s designed to generate maximum spin is a recipe for ballooning tee shots and draws and fades that are impossible to control. Before we look at who might be paired together through the prism of the golf ball, let’s take a quick run through the models in play: TaylorMade TP5: TaylorMade’s softest, highest-spinning TOUR ball. Most workable, mid-launching offering. Highest spinning off wedges. TaylorMade TP5x: Spins less than TP5. Higher initial launch and firmer feel than TP5. Less greenside spin than TP5. Bridgestone Tour B X: Bridgestone’s firmest, lowest-launching, lowest-spinning tour ball. Callaway Chrome Soft X: Firmer feeling than Chrome Soft and lower launching as well. Callaway Chrome Soft X LS: Both higher launching and lower spinning than Chrome Soft X. More greenside spin. Titleist Pro V1: Titleist’s softest TOUR ball. Lower flying and spinning than Pro V1x. Titleist Pro V1x: Firmer and higher-launching than Pro V1. Pro V1x also spins more than Pro V1. Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot: A lower-flying, lower-spinning version of Pro V1 with a similar feel and greenside performance. Srixon Z-Star XV: Srixon’s firmer, lower-spinning Tour ball. High greenside spin. Now, let’s take a look at who plays what and potential pairings based on players who use similar balls. Who plays what on the U.S. Team? TaylorMade TP5: Collin Morikawa TaylorMade TP5x: Dustin Johnson Bridgestone Tour B X: Bryson DeChambeau Callaway Chrome Soft X LS: Xander Schauffele Titleist Pro V1: Harris English, Scottie Scheffler Titleist Pro V1x: Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot: Daniel Berger, Tony Finau Potential U.S. Foursomes teams based on ball compatibility: DeChambeau-Schauffele DeChambeau-Johnson DeChambeau-Berger DeChambeau-Finau Spieth-Thomas Spieth-Cantlay Spieth Koepka Thomas-Cantlay Thomas-Koepka Koepka-Cantlay Berger-Finau Morikawa-Koepka Morikawa-Thomas Morikawa-Cantlay Morikawa-Spieth Scheffler-English Scheffler-Morikawa English-Morikawa Who plays what for Europe? TaylorMade TP5x: Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, Callaway Chrome Soft X: Jon Rahm Titleist Pro V1: Paul Casey, Viktor Hovland, Bernd Wiesberger Titleist Pro V1x: Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter Srixon Z-Star XV: Shane Lowry Potential European Foursomes teams based on ball compatibility: McIlroy-Fleetwood McIlroy-Garcia McIlroy-Casey McIlroy-Hovland McIlroy-Wiesberger McIlroy-Lowry Fleetwood-Casey Fleetwood-Hovland Fleetwood-Wiseberger Fleetwood-Lowry Garcia-Casey Garcia-Hovland Garcia-Wiesberger Garcia-Lowry Rahm-McIlroy Rahm-Fleetwood Rahm-Garcia Rahm-Casey Rahm-Hovland Rahm-Wiesberger Rahm-Lowry Fitzpatrick-Hatton Fitzpatrick-Westwood Fitzpatrick-Poulter Hatton-Westwood Hatton-Poulter Poulter-Westwood

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