The first six matches of the 2013 Presidents Cup are set. In a news conference on Wednesday at Muirfield Village G.C., captains Fred Couples and Nick Price announced the pairings and order of the Day 1 matches.
All six matches will be played in the fourball, or best ball, format.
Match 1 (11:45 a.m. ET): Jason Day/Graham DeLaet (INTL) vs. Hunter Mahan/Brandt Snedeker (U.S.)
Match 2 (11:59 a.m.): Adam Scott/Hideki Matsuyama (INTL) vs. Bill Haas/Webb Simpson (U.S.)
Match 3 (12:13 p.m.): Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel (INTL) vs. Phil Mickelson/Keegan Bradley (U.S.)
Match 4 (12:27 p.m.): Ernie Els/Brendon de Jonge (INTL) vs. Steve Stricker/Jordan Spieth (U.S.)
Match 5 (12:41 p.m.): Angel Cabrera/Marc Leishman (INTL) vs. Matt Kuchar/Tiger Woods (U.S.)
Match 6 (12:55 p.m.): Branden Grace/Richard Sterne (INTL) vs. Zach Johnson/Jason Dufner (U.S.)
This will mark the first time since 1996 that the Presidents Cup has kicked off with fourball matches. However, in the last two Presidents Cups, the teams have split the fourball six-shooter which has been played on Day 2. The Internationals won the session 4.5-1.5 in 2007 at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. The session was also halved in 2005.
The idea for the change was to make the opening day a better opportunity for the International team to put up a good score and not dig a deep hole for themselves from the start.
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