The Ryder Cup tees off Friday, with Team USA hoping to win the cup for the second consecutive time on home turf -- although Team Europe hopes to defend its 2010 Ryder Cup win and win for the fifth time in six events.
Ryder Cup 2012 schedule: Teams USA, Europe tee off Friday at Medinah
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are ranked No. 1 and 2 in the world, and each hopes to lead his team to victory starting Friday morning in the 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club in Illinois.
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This edition of the Ryder Cup will be the first of 39 incarnations of the event where all 24 competitors are featured in the world’s top 35. Participating are all five of the world’s top golfers -- Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Justin Rose.
Viewers will be able to watch the event a day before the beginning of play, as the Golf Channel will begin coverage of the tournament from the Medinah Country Club in the suburbs of Chicago Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m ET.
The actual golf will get underway 8:20 a.m. Friday with four foursomes alternating shot matches, and continue in the afternoon at either 1:05 or 2:05 p.m. with four fourball, with each team putting forward two competitors. Fridays’ proceedings will be shown from 8 a.m to 7 p.m. on ESPN. The same schedule of play will happen Saturday, although TV coverage will shift to NBC, who will cover the event from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The winning team will almost certainly be decided on Saturday, when 12 singles matches will be contested. Players will tee off starting at 12:03 p.m., with golfers going head-to-head. Whichever team reaches 14.5 out of 28 available points will win. NBC will begin coverage at noon and continue until the day ends, tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m.
For more on the Ryder Cup, check out SB Nation’s dedicated golf hub.
