Okay, it goes like this. Phil Mickelson tells his captain he's taking a day off and won't be playing a practice round; and, then, Hal Sutton sends his men out in a convoluted mishmash of odd numbers - two threeballs and a five-ball - that goes against the entire history of preparing for Ryder Cups and of determining who will play with whom in the foursomes and fourballs.

If the Americans appear to be in some disharmony, or maybe partaking in a wicked scheme to throw the minds of their opponents into a whirlpool of conjecture, the Europeans played it by the book.

Heck, Bernhard Langer even went so far as to formally pair his players for nine holes of fourballs in the morning, and again for nine holes of foursomes in the afternoon.

Was he providing a hint of who will partner whom for tomorrow's first day of play? Or was he trying to throw the wool over our prying eyes?

"You'll find out on Friday whether they're going to stay together. I don't know that myself either yet, but obviously there's a bit of thought went into it," said Langer.

Sutton's ploy of not revealing playing partners, not even to the players, is strange. Chad Campbell, a Ryder Cup rookie, observed, "Hal said, 'just be ready to play, just prepare to play like you do every tournament and don't worry about who your partner is'."

It's a strategy that hasn't been encountered in the past.

"This is certainly different," said Tiger Woods, "and something I've never experienced. It's refreshing."

Refreshing? Confusing, more like.

Still, despite what appears to be the informality of it all, Sutton has been juggling pairings around in his mind for two years.

"It's weighed heavily on my mind," he conceded. "I think when we announce our pairings you'll see that it's weighed heavily on my mind. I'll put out the guys that I think can get the job done.

"I've expressed (to the players) that we've got to stay patient, that we've got to stay in the present. We've to take it one step at a time. We've got to get the first morning matches behind us in a successful way in order to move on to the afternoon matches."

From yesterday's practice, it was impossible to work out any possible American pairings as Mickelson took a day's rest (apparently because that is what he does on the Wednesday of a major). At one stage, the US players played a two-ball - Woods and Chris DiMarco - a fourball and a five-ball for nine holes.

This then changed to a threeball of DiMarco, Woods and Stewart Cink, another threeball of Kenny Perry, Chris Riley and David Toms, and a five-ball of Cad Campbell, Jim Furyk, Fred Funk, Jay Haas and Davis Love.

While the Americans seem intent on doing things their own way, the Europeans were more structured. In the morning, Darren Clarke and Miguel Angel Jimenez played a fourball with Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia; Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington teamed up against Luke Donald and Paul Casey; and Paul McGinley was paired with David Howell against Ian Poulter and Thomas Levet.

Then, in the afternoon, when they played foursomes, Clarke was paired with Westwood against Jimenez and Levet; Donald and Garcia were paired against Harrington and McGinley; and Casey and Howell took on Montgomerie and Poulter.

If, on the surface, the partnership of Donald and Garcia appears unusual, Langer stated: "I want them to win a point. They like each others company. They can do anything with a golf ball. I think they will fire each other on and be there for each other, encourage each other and go through thick and thin. That's what I am looking for."

And, looking at those pairings, both fourballs and foursomes, they do appear to be ones Langer is strongly considering.

The first series of four fourballs get the 35th Ryder Cup under way tomorrow, and it could see Harrington and Monty teaming up in the opening fourball to send out a message to the Americans.

Langer also revealed that a number of players may be required to play in five matches, although his intention is that everyone will have played at least once before Sunday's singles.

"There's going to be some who will play all five matches, because there is a lot of golf to be played. As I send them out on Friday morning, I'm going to watch them. If anybody might play poorly, I will probably talk to him and pull him out, or if anybody plays great, I'll be stupid not to play him again. So I am just going to go match to match and day to day."

As you'd expect, Langer appears in total control of things; Sutton, on the other hand, appears to have adopted a more laissez faire approach. Time will tell which one was right.