Ryder Cup 2018 Opening Ceremony: Top Highlights and Twitter Reaction

Tiger Woods will be joined by Patrick Reed in the pairings for the fourball matches on Friday at the 2018 Ryder Cup, after Team USA captain Jim Furyk and skipper Thomas Bjorn for Team Europe made their picks during the opening ceremony at Le Golf National on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy and Thorbjorn Olesen will face world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler in the other headline meeting of the morning session:

The picks were the main focus of a ceremony not short on pageantry.

David Ginola got things underway, although the former Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa winger was a curious choice as host to some:

Ginola was scheduled to be joined by musical performances from Kaiser Chiefs and Jain. Not everybody was impressed with the lineup, though:

Reservations aside, the Kaiser Chiefs opened the ceremony by performing "Ruby":

Still, they couldn't please everybody:

There couldn't have been any complaints about a stirring rendition of the French national anthem, followed by an impressive air display:

Any detractors of the entertainment will have put their reservations aside once the teams were introduced. Furyk and Bjorn took to the stage, with defending champions USA soon following suit.

Unsurprisingly, fans of both nations were particularly excited to see one player:

The crowd wasn't so accommodating for every member of Team USA, though:

Then it was time for Team Europe, including Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, to arrive:

The pomp of the event wasn't lost on everyone:

It was time for the captains to deliver lengthy but impassioned speeches acknowledging both the occasion and the history they represented. Furyk won over many with his words:

Jain's performance preceded the picks:

Once the fourball matches were set, the ceremony began to wind down. While the event wasn't to everyone's taste, it served its purpose of increasing excitement for the competition, as well as adding some spectacle and grandeur ahead of golf's biggest weekend.