Ryder Cup 2018 Leaderboard: Predicting Scores for Tiger Woods and Top Stars

The 2018 Ryder Cup is taking shape nicely after players discovered their pairings at the opening ceremony ahead of Friday's official start, when Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed will face Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari in the first matchup.

Golf's former prodigal son has returned to fighting form and was named as a wild card for the United States in its trip to defend the Ryder Cup on European shores this year.

Sky Sports confirmed Friday's opening-round fourball pairings on Thursday:

If the U.S. team can come out victorious, it would be the first time since 1993 that it has triumphed away from home. Captain Jim Furyk has assembled a talented roster comprising world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, as well as Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka and more.

Europe captain Thomas Bjorn has his own motley crew he thinks capable of winning back the crown, including Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia, a veteran of 37 Ryder Cup matches.

Read on as we take a look at some of the top stars poised to compete at Le Golf National in Paris.

Visit the official Ryder Cup website to see the live leaderboard.

Preview

The golf world has been enraptured by Woods' fairytale victory at the season-ending Tour Championship last Sunday, but a quick turnaround to Le Golf National has expectations set high once more.

Inevitably, the question now is whether the 42-year-old is back to his old best, that triumph at East Lake Golf Course was a fluke, or maybe the beginning of a new Woods—not quite as great as his old version, but good nonetheless.

His talent has never been in question, but now Woods appears to have his pieces in place on a more personal level. Successful back surgery has the veteran playing with aplomb more consistently, and he received the backing of another high-profile wild card on the U.S. team:

Woods still has much to prove, though, and isn't likely to sit back despite his landmark win last Sunday. Wild-card status or not, he'll have an impact similar to that which Rickie Fowler enjoyed two years ago—in what will be his first Ryder Cup since 2012.

And while one formerly controversial U.S. star returns to form on the fairways, Dustin Johnson, one of America's biggest stars in recent years, has gone in something of an opposite direction and faces a test in Paris.

Johnson finished third at the Tour Championship and has placed in the top 10 in four of the last seven tournaments in which he's played, but Tyson Otto of the New York Post detailed how he's been dogged by reports of infidelity.

Johnson and his wife, Paulina Gretzky, appeared together at the opening ceremony, however, to set aside rumors for the time being. Johnson could be a tournament MVP if he's at the top of his game.

A hint of bias, perhaps, but Ewan Murray took in the Albatros Course at Le Golf National and predicted America's stars will fall, however:

And the man looking most likely to dish out the damage for Europe is world No. 2 Rose, who sent out something of a battle cry in a press conference earlier this week, via Omnisport:

Rose's best European Tour finish this season was a share of second at The Open in July, but his PGA success has looked up of late and turned in second place at both the Dell Technologies Championship and the BMW Championship in September.

One would expect his seniority over Koepka to pose a big advantage in Friday's opening duel, though the American has flash-in-the-pan ability to surprise. Koepka will partner rookie Tony Finau, but Rose's own rookie, Jon Rahm, should lead that battle in favor of Europe.