Ryder Cup 2012: Davis Love III sets Team USA roster

The PGA of America hosted a red carpet gala to kick off the 2012 Ryder Cup Wednesday night from Rosemont, Ill. Having never been to a gala of this magnitude, my photographer and I knew going in that we were in for quite the experience.

We were not disappointed.

Any Ryder Cup fanatics hoping for a redux of 1991’s War by the Shore are likely to be disappointed. The matches of 21 years ago may have set a belligerent tone for future European-U.S. contretemps (see: Brookline, 1999), but if we are to believe many of this year’s contestants, the Medinah matches are more likely to resemble Steve Elkington’s facetious “Kissy Kissy...Hug Hug” affair than any sort of armed combat.

“There’s really not any [parallel between playing and fighting for your country],” Bubba Watson told reporters Thursday.. “The military is] doing something that really means something. We’re playing golf.”

Finally, with Brandt Snedeker out-dueling Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and everybody else for the $10 million FedEx Cup jackpot, the golf world can turn away from Steve Sands deciphering skull-imploding points totals on an erasable white board and concentrate on one simple number: 28.

That’s how many matches there are in the Ryder Cup, the 2012 edition of which kicks off on Friday at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. The goal is pretty simple: The Americans need 14.5 points to bring the Cup back to the U.S., while a 14-14 tie means the honor stays with Europe, the current champs.

After two years of preparation by the PGA, Medinah Country Club, located 35 minutes from downtown Chicago is ready to host the 2012 Ryder Cup. Led by course architect Rees Jones, the course went through a $1.5 million greens renovation project as well as a completely redesigned 15th hole, the short, 390-yard par-4.

SB Nation Golf’s own Adam Fonseca got a sneak peak at the course a few days before the golf commenced. These photos pay tribute to the time and effort poured into the famed No. 3 Course at Medinah in preparation for one of golf’s greatest events.

2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III has added four players to the Team USA roster. Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, and Steve Stricker will be representing their country against golfers from Europe on Sept. 28-30 at Medinah Country Club.

The new members will join Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, and Phil Mickelson on the American squad.

The 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup team has eight automatic spots on the roster. They’re now filled.

After the 94th PGA Championship was completed on Kiawah Island on Sunday, every spot on the upcoming Ryder Cup squad was nailed down, with the following eight locked in:

On Monday, the PGA of America announced that Davis Love III will captain the United States’ Ryder Cup team in 2012. This comes a day after José María Olazábal was chosen to serve as captain for the European team. From the Miami Herald:

Davis, age 46, has one major tournament title under his belt, the 1997 PGA Championship. He has a total of 20 career PGA Tour wins. He’s already hinted at the approach he plans to take as captain: