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2025 Ryder Cup
Venue: Bethpage Black, New York Dates: 26-28 September
Coverage: Daily live text commentary and in-play clips on BBC Sport website from 11:30 BST. Radio commentary on 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 12:00. Daily TV highlights on iPlayer from 00:00.
We will not know the line-ups for the opening session until Thursday evening in New York, but we are already aware that Friday morning's action could have a massive influence on the destiny of the 45th Ryder Cup.
US captain Keegan Bradley has opted to stick with their preferred tactic of starting their home matches with alternate shot foursomes. And success in this format has been a reliable indicator of overall outcomes in recent times.
It is the most demanding and pressurised form of team play - no second chances in a world of brutal co-dependence.
Remember Tiger Woods' thunderous looks as his unlikely partner and career rival Phil Mickelson repeatedly sent their ball into deep trouble at Oakland Hills in 2004?
There is no hiding place and it is arguably the format that most accurately tells us where a Ryder Cup team are at in terms of mood and form.
Europe have often opted for more forgiving fourball play to start their home matches, although last time skipper Luke Donald bucked that trend with spectacular success.
In Rome they romped to a 4-0 lead on the first morning by delivering an alternate shot pasting that the US never recovered from.
Europe held their opponents at arms length thereafter to continue the current trend of convincing home wins.
Since the 'Miracle at Medinah' in 2012, when Europe came from 10-4 down to secure the contest's most recent away win, it has been one-way traffic in favour of the host team.
In each of the five subsequent events the winning outfit have trounced the visitors in the first-day foursomes. Europe dropped only half a point out of 12 in these sequences in the triumphs of 2014, 2018 and 2023.
At Whistling Straits four years ago the US took the opening foursomes 3-1 en route to a record 19-9 victory. In 2016 they won the Friday foursomes session 4-0 at Hazeltine and Europe never truly recovered.
So both captains know the importance of this Friday's opening session at Bethpage Black. It is the tone-setter for the three days of competition.
In the most recent away matches of 2016 and 2021, Europe trail 11½-4½ in foursomes. It feels as though they have to reverse this trend to have any chance this week.
Why it is so hard for away teams to prosper at alternate shot is hard to fathom. Maybe this time there is a better chance because Europe are the more experienced team, with Rasmus Hojgaard their only rookie.
Certainly Donald wants his golfers to get off to a fast start to try to quieten what are expected to be vociferous home fans.
Indeed, the ultimate aim would be to prompt home galleries to turn on their team, especially as the US players are each being paid $500,000 (£371,000), with $300,000 (£148,000) to go to their charity of choice.
This potentially alters the dynamics of the match, with Europe united in not wanting financial reward.
New York fans love to back their teams and barrack the opposition. But they are not shy in letting their dissatisfaction be known if things start to go wrong, and already incredibly rich golfers on another financial make could become fair game.
Donald will hope the experience of his team - tried and tested foursomes partnerships such as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood, and Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton - can get into the US from the off.
Bradley has four rookies - Ben Griffin, JJ Spaun, Russell Henley and Cameron Young - to blood.
First-timers have prospered in the past, but each of them is currently preparing for the most nerve-wracking shots of their lives, especially if required to play on the first morning.
Europe are steeped in experience and not just because their team comprises 11 of the dedicated dozen who won so handsomely in Italy two years ago.
Donald has 2014-winning captain Paul McGinley as an astute strategic adviser, the statistical nous of Edoardo Molinari among his vice-captains along with winning skippers Thomas Bjorn and Jose Maria Olazabal.
By contrast, Bradley will presumably have to rely heavily on vice-captain Jim Furyk, who played nine Ryder Cups, winning only two. The 55-year-old was the losing skipper to Bjorn in Paris in 2018.
Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson are the only other back-up with Ryder Cup experience - Simpson was on the losing team in all three of his matches, while Snedeker made up for 2012 defeat with success in 2016.
Famously, Bradley will never open his kit bag from Medinah until he wins a Ryder Cup. He still calls that tumultuous final day when Europe surged back from 10-6 down "horrifying".
Crucially, the in-form 39-year-old's wildcard picks can all look at their captain knowing he could have picked himself instead of them. That is surely a powerful motivator for half of his team and potentially a Bradley masterstroke.
The days ahead will be peppered with captain and player news conferences, a game of cat and mouse with the media trying to elicit controversial comments that could light a blue touch paper.
Knowing there is already a wealth of tinder, the skippers will not want sparks to fly - certainly until the contest finally gets under way on Friday morning.
Who knows how it will play out? Will the one-sided pattern continue or will we get a much-needed epic that goes to the wire?
The past five matches have not been close; this has been the era of the home blowout. But on aggregate in that period Europe lead by a single point: 70½-69½.
Home advantage is significant, but so is experience and know-how. That is the culture clash at the heart of this year's Ryder Cup.
This will be at its most acute in the earliest exchanges. If neither side gain a significant lead from those foursomes matches, the closeness of the contest may endure until the very end.
Bring it on.
