LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- Paul Azinger had pairings in his pocket and butterflies in his stomach.

As the last of his American players headed to the 10th tee for the final practice session Thursday at the Ryder Cup, Azinger acknowledged some nerves for the first time all week at Valhalla.

It was different from being a player. He felt more like a parent sending his child off to college.

Azinger has done all he can to stop Europe's recent dominance in the Ryder Cup. He overhauled the qualifying process to field the best team. He set the course up just like he wanted, with moderate rough that should yield lots of birdies. He tried to convince his players that the recent past -- Europe has won three in a row and five of the past six -- means nothing.

"It's like drawing back a bow string," he said. "You pull it back for two years, and now you've got to let it fly. All you can do is hope you've got it pointed in the right direction."

He turned to Phil Mickelson and young star Anthony Kim to set the right course.

Mickelson and Kim, who have been asking for a partnership over the past month, will be the opening foursomes match this morning against double major champion Padraig Harrington and Robert Karlsson.

"The whole team is anxious to play," Mickelson said.

The other featured match, the last of the morning foursomes, pits Kentucky native Kenny Perry and reliable Jim Furyk against Europe's most formidable pair, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. Garcia is 8-0 in foursomes, while Westwood is unbeaten in his past 10 team matches.

Justin Leonard, whose 45-foot putt at Brookline in 1999 gave the Americans their last victory, will play with former Oklahoma State standout Hunter Mahan against Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey, while Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell will take on the English duo of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter.

Former Augusta State star Oliver Wilson is sitting out the morning session for the Europeans.

The day included an inspirational visit by heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.

European captain Nick Faldo called the meeting with Ali "an incredible moment."

Now all that's left is to see how this heavyweight fight takes shape.