Cup too close to call

2004 RYDER CUP TEE-OFF TIMES Fourballs (Fri & Sat): 1310, 1325, 1340 & 1355 Foursomes (Fri & Sat): 1845, 1900, 1915 & 1930 Singles (Sun): 1700, 1711, 1722, 1733, 1744, 1755, 1806, 1817, 1828, 1839, 1850 & 1901 All times BST BBC coverage details Our verdict? Europe to win

Europe and America will lock horns on Friday as golf's 35th Ryder Cup gets under way in Detroit.

The contest is set to roar straight into life at 1310 BST with three of the sport's most famous names competing in the opening fourballs match.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the two highest-ranked players in action at the Oakland Hills course, will lead off the US challenge in the three-day contest.

They are pitted against European talisman Colin Montgomerie, who will partner Padraig Harrington in the opening match.

Both sides are claiming underdog status in the biennial team competition, which has become one of the most gripping and eagerly-anticipated events in golf.

The Americans, who dominated in the early years of the event, have home advantage, higher world rankings and more major wins among their 12-strong team.

OPENING FOURBALLS 1310 BST: Mickelson/Woods v Montgomerie/Harrington 1325 BST: Love/Campbell v Clarke/Jimenez 1340 BST: Riley/Cink v McGinley/Donald 1355 BST: Toms/Furyk v Garcia/Westwood Ryder Cup pairings unveiled

But the European holders, who have won three of the last four Ryder Cups, traditionally perform better in matchplay and have better form going into the Michigan showdown.

With the match so finely balanced, home support could yet prove the deciding factor, as it did the last time the event was held on US soil.

In Brookline in 1999, the US victory was marred by heckling from over-patriotic fans and an ill-judged premature celebration by the US players and wives.

This time, both teams are keen to emphasise the sportsmanship that was at the heart of the Ryder Cup's inception in 1927 and still sets the event, in which there is no prize money, apart from most others.

HOW THE RYDER CUP WORKS A total of eight fourball matches, eight foursomes and 12 singles over three days One point for a win, half for a draw First team to 14½ points wins A 14-14 tie means the team who last won retains the trophy In matchplay, games are decided hole by hole instead of cumulatively, as in strokeplay The score is kept by number of holes won (up) and number of holes remaining (Eg: US 2-up, with six to play) Ryder Cup jargon explained

Under instructions from captain Bernhard Langer, the visiting team have gone out of their way to make a good impression on the local crowd.

Practice rounds have been lengthier than usual as the players signed thousands of autographs, with a headline in the local Detroit Free Press reporting: 'Euros Win Over The Crowd - Most US players keep their distance.'

And even Montgomerie, the subject of the worst abuse at Brookline, has been given a warm welcome.

Flashback to 2002

Montgomerie did not qualify automatically for the European team and instead had to rely on being one of captain Bernhard Langer's two wildcard picks.

But the 41-year-old Scot, who is competing in his seventh Ryder Cup, has a phenomenal record in the event, losing only two of his last 16 matches.

He took four-and-a-half points out of a possible five last time and Langer will be looking to his experience to get Europe off to a winning start.

Course guide: Oakland Hills

But US captain Hal Sutton has put his two big guns - Woods and Mickelson - first up, in an attempt to get his side up and running.

Eight times in the last nine matches the US have lost the team portion of the event and have had to rely on the final day of singles to pull themselves back into contention.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes make the Americans 4/6 favourites to win - but those are their longest odds since the tide-turning 1985 European victory at The Belfry.

Academy: How does the Ryder Cup work?