The world's best players from the two continents will battle for the ultimate golfing bragging rights as competition gets underway at one of Scotland's most famous courses - the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles - tomorrow.

Team Europe is captained by four-time winner on the European Tour Paul McGinley, the first Irishman to lead the European contingent.

World number one and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy will be Europe's "marked man" following his back-to-back major wins at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July and the PGA Championship at the Valhalla Golf Club just three weeks later.

The Northern Irishman has already been on the receiving end of American jibes, with Team US' Phil Mickelson directing a joke at the ongoing legal dispute involving McIlroy's former management company.

McIlroy is suing Horizon, where Graeme McDowell is both a client and shareholder, for charging excessive fees.

Asked about the perceived lack of chemistry due to infrequent victories for the United States in the Ryder Cup, the five-time major champion replied: "Not only are we able to play together, we also don't litigate against each other and that's a real plus I feel, heading into this week."

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy will be the man to beat at this year's Ryder Cup after taking back-to-back Major victories this year ©Getty Images



The two Northern Irish men are unlikely to play together during the Ryder Cup, with McGinley reportedly stating that he would split them up for "tactical" reasons.

The dispute is unlikely to affect the European team, which is filled with experienced and rising talent.

McGinley has named a number of Ryder Cup veterans, including Lee Westwood, who already boasts eight Ryder Cup caps, Sergio Garcia, who will be competing in his seventh event and Ian Pouter, who is famed for his Ryder Cup record over his four previous outings with Team Europe.

He has also named three rookies in the team - local Stephen Gallacher, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and young Frenchman Victor Dubuisson.

Each go into this weekend's action in great form, with Dubuisson and Donaldson both qualifying automatically, while Gallacher narrowly missed out on automatic qualification and was selected as one of McGinley's wildcards, alongside Ian Poulter and Westwood.

Team Europe have won the last two Ryder Cups, having sealed victory at Celtic Manor in Wales prior to their historic win in Medinah last time out.

The US are not a team to rule out, however, with Tom Watson taking the reins for the first time since leading the team to victory in 1993.

This win was the last for the US on European soil, with the nation taking the cup home just twice since.

Tom Watson was the last US captain to win the Ryder Cup on European soil when the team won in 1993 ©Getty Images



Mickelson holds the record for appearances at the Ryder Cup, having picked up nine, and the bubbly left-hander has a knack of coming into form at the right time.

The 44-year-old came second behind McIlroy at the PGA Championship to continue his record of never needing a captain's pick to represent his country.

He will be eager to redeem Team US' loss at Medinah two years ago.

With no Tiger Woods on the list of entries, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Zack Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker, Bubba Watson, Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan and Webb Simpson will join Mickelson in the American line up.

Team Europe will be rounded off by 2014 major winner Martin Kaymer, Thomas Bjorn, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.

The competition is due to get underway tomorrow, with fourballs in the morning and foursomes in the afternoon.

This format continues on Saturday (September 27), while Sunday will see the singles competition bring an end to proceedings.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2014: Sky Sports launch dedicated Ryder Cup channel while coffee lovers can enjoy Nespresso at Gleneagles
September 2014: US captain Watson plumps for experience with three wildcard picks for Ryder Cup
September 2014: Scotland's Gallacher gets Ryder Cup nod as Europe captain McGinley names wildcards for Gleneagles
August 2014: Tiger Woods rules himself out of the Ryder Cup
July 2014: Sky Sports to dedicate whole channel to 2014 Ryder Cup