Darren Clarke insists he did not change his plan for day one of Ryder Cup
By Keith Jackson at Hazeltine
Last Updated: 30/09/16 11:06pm
Darren Clarke has insisted his decision to leave Danny Willett out of the opening Ryder Cup foursomes was not a late change of plan.
Willett has been in the spotlight since his brother wrote a controversial magazine article in which he was highly critical of Americans, and he appeared to be struggling with his game on the final day of practice at Hazeltine National.
But Clarke declared he was happy with Willett's state of mind as well as his form, and he confirmed that the Masters champion will feature in the afternoon fourballs on Friday.
Willett had looked likely to partner Lee Westwood having played alongside him in practice, but Thomas Pieters will now play with the veteran in the final match of the morning against Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar.
Asked if he changed his plans due to the Willett controversy, the European captain said: "No. It's a little bit of cat-and-mouse whenever you put pairings out together in practice rounds. I'm sure Davis could probably tell you who played with who from my team and I could probably tell you who played for him. There's always a little bit of stuff going on.
"I haven't had one group of pairings firmly fixed in my mind. There's always been a few different plans and different options. And certainly with regard to Danny, he will be playing tomorrow afternoon. I probably shouldn't tell Davis that, but he will be playing tomorrow afternoon.
"I have a plan I'm going to try and execute this week, and you know, Danny is fine. Danny is ready to go. He wants to play. He's like all the guys; he's disappointed he's not playing in the morning, and he understands what I'm trying to do is for the team. There is no individual in our 12. It's about the team.
"Danny's playing fine, I have no worries about Danny whatsoever, mentally or otherwise. His golf game's good and he's ready to go play. Obviously the incident that has happened has created a bit of a furor, but Danny himself is the Masters champion. He's a great golfer, and he's ready to play and do what he needs to do for Europe."
Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, who won all three of their matches together at Gleneagles two years ago, will take on Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth in the opening foursomes, and Clarke admitted he never had any doubt they would lead off.
"Justin and Henrik are a very proven, successful Ryder Cup pairing," added Clarke, who also confirmed that every member of his team would play at least once before Sunday's singles. "Both are very strong players, and we've got the Olympic champion and the Open champion.
"To lead off, they were always going to be my choice for leading Europe off in this match. That was never, never in doubt. I'm very pleased to have them leading our attempt to retain the Ryder Cup. They are the guys going out first to try and start that off."
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