US RYDER CUP captain Corey Pavin has said that he is happy to stick with existing pairings and that the form of his players in practice for the Ryder Cup “won’t affect things too much” in terms of his plans.

Tom Watson, the last US Captain to win the Ryder Cup on foreign soil, has been advising Pavin and told him that practice rounds shouldn’t affect overall preparation and pairing selection.

“A good piece of advice that Tom gave me” said Pavin, “was to just let them go out and play in practice. You can’t let the team be concerned about how they are playing. They are getting over jet-lag, and their bodies are out of whack. I won’t be watching them in that way. How they play in practice won’t affect things too much.”

The American team began training at 8.45am in order to acclimatise to the Welsh weather, and Tiger Woods received a warm reception as he played. “Tiger, we’re pulling for you!” one spectator cried out.

Although Rory McIlroy made some disparaging remarks about Tiger’s form, the player dubbed America’s answer to Rory McIlroy had no such doubts.

“He’s a lot of fun to be around. It’s pretty cool to be around the guy” said Rickie Fowler after playing his first round with Woods. “We were pretty pumped to be able to hang out with those guys.”