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Good Wednesday morning, golf fans. A quick look at the Ryder Cup odds: at DraftKings right now, the US team are surprise favorites at -110 to win — 52% implied probability — Europe +115, and a tie +1000. Place your bets accordingly! Last time out, the Americans were favored to the tune of -175 at Whistling Straits.

1. Rahm talked to Garcia, Poulter about carrying the leadership torch

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…“Although Garcia’s absence will be felt throughout the team room, it has been particularly acute for Jon Rahm. The Spanish duo was undefeated in team play two years ago at Whistling Straits (3-0-1) and would have been the side’s most obvious pairing.”

• “[Garcia] did show me a lot of what to do at Whistling and obviously in Paris, as well,” said Rahm, who added that he spoke with Garcia and Poulter before arriving in Rome. “Not that it’s going to be easy to take on the role that those two had both on and off the golf course, but just to hear them talk about what they thought and what they felt is obviously invaluable information.”

• “With Garcia and Poulter absent, the emotional leadership for the European team now falls to Rahm and Rory McIlroy.”

• “I don’t think I need to do anything different to what I’ve done in the past. It’s my role to go out there and try to win as much as I can,” Rahm said. “It’s usually the leaders of a team have to go out there and show a little bit more, exactly that, leadership, and getting those points.”

2. On captain Zach Johnson

Brendan Quinn for the Athletic…”For Johnson, being who he is means being very Iowan. Honest. Process-driven. Diligent. He operates with an abnormal attention to detail. He writes everything down and loves lists — making lists, looking at lists, checking things off lists. Though he recently referred to the U.S. team’s analytics crew as the “nerd herd,” Johnson isn’t dismissive of data.”

• “Organization will not be an issue,” says Love III, one of Johnson’s five vice-captains, along with Furyk, Steve Stricker, Fred Couples and Stewart Cink. “And when Zach makes a decision, he’ll be confident in it.”

• “The key is for those decisions to be accepted and executed. That takes trust.”

• “Fellow tour players have long gravitated toward him, a counter, perhaps, to a public image of him that can sometimes translate as ill at ease. He is exceedingly well-liked among fellow pros. In his 30s and into his 40s, Johnson, comfortable in his skin, welcomed the young stars joining the tour. From Rickie Fowler to Justin Thomas to Scottie Scheffler.”

3. JT on Ryder Cup competitiveness

The Golf Channel digital team…“Rory [McIlroy] is a great example,” Justin Thomas said Tuesday. “I love Rory. We get along extremely well. He’s been a role model of mine. He was super nice to me when I was first starting up. He still is. We see each other a bunch.

• “We played each other in the Ryder Cup and, yeah, we hated each other for 18 holes. Again, it’s nothing personal. It’s not a dislike as a person…”

• “It’s just, my wife knows,” Thomas said, “if Jill teed it up in the Ryder Cup for the other team, I’m going to try to beat her pretty bad.”

4. “Not keeping receipts”

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach…”Justin Thomas says he hasn’t “kept receipts” for those who have criticized his inclusion in the U.S. Ryder Cup team.”

• “The only thing that matters to Thomas, he told reporters Tuesday, is that U.S. team captain Zach Johnson and the other American golfers who will take on the European team starting Friday at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club wanted him there.”

• “After I was picked from the team, it doesn’t matter what it is, especially when it comes to people and stuff online, everybody’s got an opinion and theirs is right and everybody else’s is wrong, at least that’s what generally seems to be,” Thomas said. “So for that exact reason, I stayed away from social media and stayed away from stuff online because I knew nothing good was going to come from it.”

5. Spieth on the rowdies

Gabrielle Herzig for Sports Illustrated…”Over the years, players have demonstrated varying strategies for combating the event’s natural rowdiness. On Tuesday at Marco Simone, Jordan Spieth offered an explanation of those distinct approaches.”

• “He used a former match-play partner as a pointed example.”

• “I played a lot of matches with Patrick Reed, when he felt insulted, he turned the notch up,” Spieth said.

• …”Spieth, however, couldn’t be more different in his approach.”

• “When I feel insulted, I don’t turn it up or down,” Spieth said. “I’m just like, O.K. they are drunk, move on.”

6. Koepka: I should have 9 majors by now

Our Matt Vincenzi…“While appearing on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” Podcast, Brooks Koepka said he believed he could win 12 majors by the time his career is over.”

• “The five-time major champion was asked by Big Cat, “How many majors? What’s the number? I know there’s a number in your head.”

• “Koepka replied, “I feel like I can get to twelve. Think about it, right? Think about how many I’ve already blown. I blew one to Phil, so that’d be six. Tiger, that’s seven. Jon Rahm, so that’s eight. Gary Woodland, lost to Gary. So that’s nine.”

7. Chamblee calls Donald decision a mistake

Our Matt Vincenzi…”For the first time since 1993, the European team has chosen to open the Ryder Cup with foursomes rather than fourball.”

• “When asked why he made the decision, European captain Luke Donald indicated that he wanted to get out to a “fast start”.”

• “It’s pretty simple really, we feel like as a team, statistically, we are stronger in foursomes within our team than we would be in fourballs.”

• “Why not get off to a fast start? That’s it.”

• “However, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has questioned the decision calling it a “mistake” on Golf Central.”

• “It is very important to win the first session from a momentum standpoint. But it’s significantly more important to lead after the first day. If you go back to 1997 to present, starting with fourballs allowed them to end with a strength on the first day, and mostly they’ve dominated in the foursomes.

• “If you win the first session, you win the Ryder Cup about 60% of the time. But if you win the first day, you win 70% of the time. So in one fell swoop, he’s potentially thrown away a 10% chance, which is a monumental advantage given to the European side, and I think that’s a mistake.”

8. DP World Tour invites for 4 LIV pros

9 Photos from the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship (LPGA)

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Good Tuesday morning, golf fans, as we gear up for what should be a thrilling Ryder Cup.

1. How valuable is Marco Simone to the European team?

Max Schreiber for RyderCup.com…”Firstly, the Europeans possess more experience at Marco Simone than their American counterparts, as the DP World Tour’s Italian Open has been staged there since 2021. Many of Europe’s top players have performed well in the event, while nobody on this year’s U.S. Team had played the course before their scouting trip earlier this month.”

• “The European team has two Italian Open winners, Nicolai Højgaard (2021) and Robert MacIntyre, who beat Ryder Cup teammate Matt Fitzpatrick in a playoff in 2022. Plus, Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood all have top tens at Marco Simone.”

• “And sense a common theme from those players? Yes, they’re all top-notch drivers of the golf ball.”

• “Højgaard is second on the DPWT this season in strokes gained: off-the-tee, while MacIntyre is 14th. On the PGA Tour, Fleetwood was 31st in that category and Hatton was 13th. Meanwhile, McIlroy just broke the Tour record for average driving distance in a season at 326.3 yards.”

2. Tiger’s Ryder Cup role

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Woods was a member of the task force that overhauled the U.S. Ryder Cup process following the 2014 matches and he’s remained engaged with Team USA even as his ability to compete has been limited by injury…”

• “He’s always in the inner-circle, and at this point it’s more encouragement on his side, whether he’s texting the guys or texting the vice captains and captains, he’s there to encourage because he’s very invested in what we do year-in and year-out with Team USA, and that has never ceased and I’m grateful for that,” U.S. captain Zach Johnson said Monday at Marco Simone. “He’s the best player of our generation. Thankfully he’s an American. We are going to utilize his knowledge and his wisdom and his candor and his passion the best we can.”

3. Tiger caddies for Charlie en route to junior tourney win

Christian Arnold for the NY Post…”Charlie Woods added another accomplishment to his burgeoning golf career, with a little help from his dad.”

• “Charlie — with Tiger Woods caddying — earned a spot in the Notah Begay III National Championship on Sunday.”

• “He finished 6-under 66 to win the 14-15 age division of the Last Chance Regional.”

• “It’s great. We just stay in our own little world,” Charlie, 14, said about his dad caddying for him. “We take it one shot at a time. He puts me in my place. I’ll talk about the next tee shot and he’s like, ‘No. This is the shot we’re going to focus on. Focus up. This is what we’re gonna do.’”

4. New putting coach for Scheffler

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”After spending much of this season answering questions about his putting issues, Scottie Scheffler has gone in a new direction to find answers.”

• “Scheffler was spotted working with putting coach Phil Kenyon on Monday at the Ryder Cup. According to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis, Scheffler started working with Kenyon last week in Dallas.”

• “Scheffler’s putting issues have been well-documented this season with the world No. 1 finishing the year first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: off-the-tee, approach the green, tee-to-green and total, but 151st (out of 184 players) in strokes gained: putting.”

5. Zach Johnson on why Bryson never got a call

Dave Shedloski for Golf Digest…”Still, he felt that he, and a few others who play in the LIV Golf League—Dustin Johnson, who went 5-0 in Wisconsin, being the most obvious omission—should have gotten a bit more consideration.”

• “I can answer all of those in a very simple manner,” Zach Johnson said Monday during the first captains’ press conference with European counterpart Luke Donald. “We have a points system within the PGA of America, within the Ryder Cup USA. It’s pretty evident how you garner points and which tournaments can accumulate points. I basically, you know, I kept at one point … my own probably top 30, but when it got down towards the end of the process, it was the top 20, the top 25 guys in that point system that I felt like had the merit and certainly, well, should have my full attention. That’s where I was. I was basically in the top 20, top 25 guys in points when it came down to formulating this Team USA.”

6. Marco Simone observations

Golf Digest’s Joel Beall…”Marco Simone is not short on scenery, the property offering beautiful vistas of the Italian countryside, olive groves, rustic villages and the Roman skyline. But decouple the views from the course and two comparisons come to mind. The front nine at Marco Simone has the shape and styling of Liberty National, a maximalist and artificial design that puts a premium on ball-striking. The green contours are severe, and if the surfaces are not slow and wet they’ll reject any approach less than right. The routing is compact; there’s a sense the club tried to fit nine holes into an area that has room for just seven. The back side, however, is far more expansive in scale. Its topography is dramatic, yet the greens are the less punishing of the two nines. While the back nine still can present its difficulties, it seemed fairly gettable; in that vein, it has an air of Valhalla to it.”

7. Clue to Europe’s pairings?

Bunkered report…”European captain Luke Donald has already sprung a surprise by announcing that the first session at Marco Simone will be foursomes – a format Europe hasn’t opened with since 1993… which also happens to be the last time the US won on the road.

• “But the big question of which players will be entrusted for the opening session won’t be answered until Thursday’s opening ceremony.

• “That being said, we may have already been served a significant clue courtesy of the Tuesday practice pairings.

• “Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka and Tommy Fleetwood are out first for Europe today at approximately 10am.

• “They’ll be followed by Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Ludvig Aberg at 10.15am.

• “Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre and Nicolai Hojgaard complete the set at 10.30am.

8. FYI: Ryder Cup T.V. schedule (ET)

Friday, Sept. 29: Foursomes and fourball from 1:30 a.m.-noon, USA Network

Saturday, Sept. 30: Foursomes and fourball from 1:30-3 a.m. on USA Network and 3 a.m.-noon on NBC.

Sunday, Oct. 1: 12 singles matches from 5:30 a.m.-1 p.m., NBC

9. Obligatory Ryder Cup rough preview