The Northern Irishman lost his foursomes game with Ian Poulter on Saturday
Europe captain Thomas Bjorn backed Rory McIlroy to get his side’s bid for Ryder Cup glory off to a flying start in the final day’s singles at Le Golf National.
The home side take a 10-6 lead into Sunday’s 12 matches and need to claim four and a half points to regain the trophy in Paris.
McIlroy will face Justin Thomas in the opening match; Thomas and Jordan Spieth having beaten McIlroy and Ian Poulter 4&3 in the Saturday foursomes.
“There’s a lot of reasons to send Rory out first,” Bjorn said. “He’s a fantastic player. He likes to play fast. He doesn’t like to be held up. He likes responsibility.
“He feels like he’s in a place where he can go into that position and get the best out of himself. I have a lot of belief in him, and I trust him as a player, but also trust him very much as a person.
“So it’s a great place for him to be with responsibility.”
Draw and tee-off times for the singles session of the 42nd Ryder Cup
- 11:05: Rory McIlroy v Justin Thomas
- 11:17: Paul Casey v Brooks Koepka
- 11:29: Justin Rose v Webb Simpson
- 11:41: Jon Rahm v Tiger Woods
- 11:53: Tommy Fleetwood v Tony Finau
- 12:05: Ian Poulter v Dustin Johnson
- 12:17: Thorbjorn Olesen v Jordan Spieth
- 12:29: Sergio Garcia v Rickie Fowler
- 12:41: Francesco Molinari v Phil Mickelson
- 12:53: Tyrrell Hatton v Patrick Reed
- 13:05: Henrik Stenson v Bubba Watson
- 13:17: Alex Noren v Bryson DeChambeau
(Europe names first, all times BST)
Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari, who can become the first European players to compile a perfect 5-0 record in the Ryder Cup, will take on Tony Finau and Phil Mickelson in matches five and nine respectively.
“I went with this set-up because of personalities and the way I see them,” Bjorn added. “And I went with this group of guys in this order because I think it covers all the way through the order.
“That American line-up was always going to be extremely strong and it doesn’t matter; we need to win our points tomorrow. They can come from any match.”