Who decides the pairings?
I’ve often wondered how groups for the first two rounds of a tournament are decided. Is it names out of a hat; is it by world ranking; or is it to make them attractive for spectators both on-course and watching on TV?
Also, can a player refuse to play alongside someone he has been paired with because, for example, that player is a slow golfer or attracts a noisy gallery or they simply just don’t like one another? I was an organiser of a golf society many years ago and can recall many incidents of society members telling me who they did and didn’t want to play with!
John Ryan,
