Woods, Stricker team for U.S. in Ryder Cup

NEWPORT, Wales, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Top 5 players Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker have been paired together for Friday morning's four ball match in the Ryder Cup completion in Wales.

The Woods-Stricker team, uniting the world No. 1 and No. 4 players, will be third off for American captain Corey Pavin's squad and will face the European duo of Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher.

The first match of the 2010 Ryder Cup has U.S. players Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson going against Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. They begin the competition at 2:45 a.m. EDT Friday.

The second match has Matt Kuchar and Stewart Cink playing for the United States against Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, both from Northern Ireland. The final four ball match of the morning pits Americans Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton, both Ryder Cup rookies, versus Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald.

The afternoon schedule calls for four foursomes matches. Saturday has the same format as the Friday schedule but Sunday features 12 singles matches scored under match-play rules. Teams earn 1 point for a match victory and 1/2 point for a draw.

The Ryder Cup is contested every other year with the first team to earn 14 1/2 points winning the cup, although as cup defenders, the U.S. team retains the cup with a total of 14 points.

The America team hasn't won the Ryder Cup in Europe since 1993.