In the recent Walker Cup match the USA beat Great Britain and Ireland 4-0 in a Foursomes block. Now that would be explained easily if all four of the USA pairs were better than all four of the GB&I pairs, but subsequent results showed that this was not the case.
So it set us thinking about how the draw could affect the results of four matches if different pairs were drawn against each other. And how much this could affect the overall result.
So, assuming a superior pair will always beat an inferior pair (and we know that this does not always happen, otherwise why bother with sport!) what is the biggest difference that the draw could make between the best result for Team A and the best result for Team B.
Assume that Team A is made up of the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th best pairs and Team B is made up of the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th best pairs.
If the draw is 1 v 2, 3 v 4, 5 v 6 and 7 v 8 then Team A will win 4-0.
If the draw is 3 v 2, 5 v 4, 7 v 6 and 1 v 8 then Team B will win 3-1.
A very significant difference!