We're helping U.S. captain Strange master the possibilities.(Newport News Daily Press)

SUTTON COLDFIELD, ENGLAND _ He obsessed and waffled, researched and analyzed, asked and listened.

Tarot cards, incense and candles? Hey, you never know.

For more than a year Curtis Strange pondered the two-man teams he would create as captain of the United States' Ryder Cup squad. Today at The Belfry, on the eve of the competition against Europe, Strange reveals his first pairings _ four groups that will play in Friday morning's four-balls matches.

With five players ranked among the world's top 10 at his disposal, with a team favored to retain the Ryder Cup, Strange's task appears routine. Draw names, go in alphabetical order, line the 12 players up tallest to shortest.

Whatever.

But four-balls and foursomes have doomed many a …