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United States captain Jim Furyk has a "really good idea" of the pairings he will send out on the first day of the Ryder Cup.
Whether that includes a resurgent Tiger Woods being paired with Phil Mickelson remains to be seen.
Furyk on Tuesday offered a clue when he sent out veterans Woods and Mickelson with Masters champion Patrick Reed and event rookie Bryson DeChambeau.
Only half of the American team had ever played Le Golf National, so Furyk made sure each group had at least one player with previous experience on the course.
Mickelson said he and Woods would be keen to walk out together on Friday, despite their 2004 Ryder Cup disaster in which they lost twice on home soil.
"I think we would both welcome it," he told reporters after their Tuesday practice round.
"This is the best I think I've ever seen him swing the club, even going back to 2000, when I thought he was at his best."
The Ryder Cup starts Friday with four foursomes (alternate shot) matches in the morning, followed by four ball (better ball) matches in the afternoon.
Pressed on whether Furyk planned on sending the two out together on day one, Mickelson replied: "I do have an idea of what captain Furyk is thinking, yeah."
Furyk sent out Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson together on Tuesday, which perhaps raises the question of whether the previous successful partnership of Reed and Spieth will be continued.
The final foursomes comprised Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson, Tony Finau and Bubba Watson.
"I think coming in here we both were going to have a plan of exactly what we wanted to try to do," Furyk said, referring also to his European counterpart Thomas Bjorn.
"There's always going to be a reaction what you're seeing on the golf course, what you're feeling ... but I've got a really good idea of what I'd like to do for day one.
"Maybe not quite as exact on day two but have some options to branch off and work some different pairings."
The Americans are leaving little to chance in France and have employed an analytics firm to provide real time analysis of how guys are performing.
But the captain will have to mix that technology with good old-fashioned leadership to get the best from his players.
"You treat everyone the same because they are part of the team but you have to communicate in a different fashion, and great coaches are able to do that, and that's one of the tasks that I have this week," Furyk said.
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