Tiger Woods

Straffan (Ireland): European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam rang the changes when he announced his pairings for Wednesday’s practice session at the K Club.

The Welshman paired Jose Maria Olazabal with Swede Robert Karlsson and put Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald together in the first group out.

Woosnam’s second group featured wildcard picks Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood, the only pairing unchanged from Tuesday’s practice, along with Paul Casey and David Howell.

The final group featured Colin Montgomerie alongside Padraig Harrington, together with Henrik Stenson and Paul McGinley.

Due to the inclement weather at the K Club, the Europeans will initially play nine holes only.

High winds forced organisers to close the course for three-and-a-half hours at the start of the day.

Woosnam said he gave his team the option of going out on to the course and was delighted when they all agreed to play.

“I said to the lads I would like you to play nine holes, it gives them some idea what conditions may be like for the next few days,” he said.

No news has yet emerged from the US camp on whether their players might practice.

When the Americans began their first practice session on Tuesday, world No. 1 Tiger Woods was paired with Jim Furyk, Chris DiMarco with Phil Mickelson and David Toms with Chad Campbell in captain Tom Lehman’s strongest permutations.

His other pairings featured Scott Verplank with Brett Wetterich, Vaughn Taylor with fellow rookie Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink with J.J. Henry.

The 36th Ryder Cup begins on Friday morning. (Reuters)