< BACK TO RULES CORNER
How We Create The Pairings
by Wendy Uzelac, USGA
It's not a secret. The USGA bases the pairings first on score. The players with the higher scores go earlier in the day, the players with the lower scores tee off later in the day. The player with the lowest score will tee off last. In this case Ricky Barnes has the lowest score after 36 holes of play. After Barnes (-8), Lucas Glover (-7), and Mike Weir (-6) there were three players tied at -3, Yano, Duval and Hanson. Ties are broken using the
FILO (First
In
Last
Out) method. Since Yano was the first to post a score of -3, he was placed as the last one out of the players at -3. When players come in at the same time with the same score, preference is given to the player who teed off at the first tee. Preference meaning the player from the first tee will tee off later than the player from the 10th tee.
The USGA uses the following policy when we are going off both the first and 10th tees. When this happens the “better half” of the field will tee off on No.1. Since we have 60 players make the cut, the first player off No. 1, John Mallinger, would be the player ranked No. 30, the last player off No. 1, Ricky Barnes, would be the player ranked No.1. The first player off No. 10, Graeme McDowell, would be the player ranked No. 31 and the last player off No.10, Johan Edfors, would the player ranked No. 60.
I hope this helps explain how the pairings were created for you!
Back to Top 
< BACK TO RULES CORNER
