2010 Ryder Cup Eve Clippings

All hell breaks loose tonight (my time) tomorrow morning most other places, so here's a quick roundup of the final filings.

Steve Elling on Monty's surprise at Captain Pavin's decision to send out Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson.

After the pairings were announced, Monty had a contented look on his mug, and in a manner of speaking, it was a defensible posture to take. Pavin raised eyebrows and a slew of questions by using so many rookies, including the debatable decision to pair hyper first-timers Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson in the anchor fourth match, where they will face Ryder veterans Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald.

"Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington would not have expected to play two rookies in the last game," Monty said in his inimitably smug fashion. "As I say, unexpected."

As for Woods' position in the third match, where he will team with Steve Stricker against the English tandem of Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher, Monty was even more, shall we say, analytical.

"I was expecting Tiger to go first or fourth," Monty said, staring at the lineup card. "Tiger, being hidden, is a different move."

Jason Sobel analyzes the pairings. Jim McCabe notes that the Tiger-Stricker pairing makes that twelve partners for Tiger. Twelve Ryder Cup partners.

John Huggan believes that Monty may not be involved in course setup, but his assistants definitely are.

But, says Monty, he has done nothing. No narrowing of fairways. No sneaky fertilization of strategically placed knee-high rough. No tricks at all, in fact. Which may be true given the 47-year old Scot's limited expertise in the area of anything other than hitting five-yard fades. But far more likely is that, with sharp golfing minds like Thomas Bjorn, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke to call on, Monty has simply taken a well-advised backseat in the course setup department. So "I have left the course alone" doesn't necessarily mean that others in his employ have done likewise.

Thanks to reader NRH for the Guardian's Opening Ceremony live blog link.

Jim McCabe runs through the ceremony highlights, including Pavin forgetting to introduce Cink.

Except for what is the equivalent of a three-putt from 6 feet, that is, which Pavin alluded to later. “I only screwed up once,” he said. “I only missed one player. It could have been two.”

Said European captain Colin Montgomerie, “He did very, very good in covering his tracks. But yes, we’re 1 up.”

And Richard Williams analyzed Tiger's every move during the ceremony.

Woods marched to the stage at today's opening ceremony with the other 11 members of the USA team, proceeding in single file alongside their European opponents. The wives and girlfriends were already in their seats on the stage, having enjoyed a parade of their own, engulfing those alongside the walkways in a miasma of competing fragrances as they passed by.

Moments after the warm welcome for the announcement of his name had died away as the attention moved elsewhere, Woods's face lapsed back into the blankness that has been his public mask for most of the year.