Opening ceremonies underway, pairings to come

NEWPORT, Wales -- The four-ball pairings will be announced by the respective captains in roughly an hour, but depending on who you listen to, a couple of tandems are already a given.

Among them: Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods for the U.S., brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari for Europe, and the Northern Ireland pair of Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

According to the Guardian's Lawrence Donegan, we should also count on Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer going off first together for Europe.

Another team that looked to be a lock was the long-hitting pair of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Both are taught by Butch Harmon, who predicted on BBC moments ago that they will indeed play together. But in what was either an audible by Corey Pavin or an attempt to throw Colin Montgomerie off his scent, the U.S. captain did not have those two play together in a final tune-up on Thursday.

We'll know for sure soon enough.

*-- Sam Weinman