PGA Tour winner predicts the lineups for the opening Ryder Cup session and puts Bryson DeChambeau out first

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The wait for the opening session of the 2025 Ryder Cup is almost over, with Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald to confirm their lineups on Thursday.

After more than a decade of buildup, the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black is nearly here. The golfing world will soon find out whether Europe will be able to become the first away side since 2012 to win the event, or whether the gamble to appoint Keegan Bradley as Team USA’s captain was inspired.

The opening session at the Ryder Cup has often set the tone for the rest of the week. But you would have to go back to 2004 for the last time the Europeans led after the first four matches on American soil.

Understandably therefore, many are expecting Bradley and Luke Donald to send out their star players on Friday morning.

PGA Tour star predicts the lineups for the opening session at the Ryder Cup

Foursomes is the toughest format of the week, with world-class players having to relinquish some of the control that they have over the outcome.

So it is fair to say that Bradley and Donald are under extra pressure to get the pairings right. That means finding the right partners for the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy.

Unsurprisingly, PGA Tour star and recent Open de France winner Michael Kim has the trio featuring in the first four matches of the Ryder Cup.

Kim took to X to reveal the full lineup he is expecting to see early on Friday.

How important the opening session has been to Team USA in recent Ryder Cups

What is interesting is that Kim is seemingly expecting Donald to rely on completely tried and tested partnerships on Friday. And of course, he has good reason to.

McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood won both of their matches together in Rome. Meanwhile, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland had that incredible 9&7 win over Scheffler and Brooks Koepka.

• READ MORE: Tommy Fleetwood comments on the Bethpage fans and having Rory McIlroy as a partner

Kim’s lineup does include a change, with Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose playing foursomes for the first time. The pair played in both fourball sessions in Rome.

Bradley cannot have the same confidence in his pairings. With four rookies on his side, and six changes from Marco Simone, there are going to be some surprises.

But history is on Team USA’s side.

The Americans have won the opening session in three of the last four home Ryder Cups. In fact, their advantage has been at least two points each time.

They have gone on to win all three of those Ryder Cups where they have made a fast start. So if they are able to hit the ground running on Sunday, then Europe may have reason to think that they have a mountain to climb.