DJ, Mickelson won't reprise Ryder Cup pairing

• By Ryan Ballengee
• Nov 15, 2011 11:44 AM ET

Fred Couples has no problem in messing with what works or trying to mend what is broken. There was some hint Tuesday toward breaking up the team of Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, in part to find a new home for Dustin Johnson at the Presidents Cup.

“I was pleased and excited to see what Stricks was able to do today. He was hitting the ball a long way and had some pop on his swing,” Woods said Tuesday at Royal Melbourne.

“Hopefully, we’ll get put out there together. I know that we feel very comfortable with one another and we were talking about it today.”

Woods does not know if he will be with Stricker for certain, however.

“No, it has not been decided. A lot of pairings have not been set in stone,” he said.

World No. 6 Johnson knows he is better suited playing against Phil Mickelson than with him. The two went 0-2-0 as partners in the 2010 Ryder Cup.

“Me and Phil will not be playing together this week,” Johnson said. “We do better playing against each Other than with each other. We are good buddies, we love playing each other. But as far as – you know, some people, you just don’t – as Phil put it, we didn’t have that good energy. We are very similar. Especially the way we play and stuff. So we just didn’t quite mesh well.”

Watch wall-to-wall coverage of the Presidents Cup live on Golf Channel beginning Monday at 6PM. Tournament air times: Golf Channel Wednesday 9PM-2AM, Thursday 7:30PM-2AM, Friday 3PM-2AM and Saturday 6:30PM-12:30AM. NBC coverage Saturday at 8AM and Sunday at noon. (Note: all times are ET)