Guidonia Montecelio, Italy — Facts and figures for the Ryder Cup:
Event: 44th Ryder Cup matches
Date: Sept. 29-Oct. 1
Course: Marco Simone. Yardage: 7,248. Par: 72
Format: Four matches of fourballs (better ball) and foursomes (alternate shot) on Friday and Saturday, 12 singles matches on Sunday.
Points: The United States needs 14 points to retain the cup. Europe needs 14½ points to win the cup.
All-time series: United States leads 27-14-2.
US vs. Europe series (from 1979): Europe leads, 11-9-1.
Last time: The Americans had their youngest team with six Ryder Cup rookies and gave Europe its worst loss, 19-9, at Whistling Straits. The matches had been postponed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the gallery was one-sided because of travel restrictions. The six U.S. rookies combined to go 14-4-3.
Captains: Zach Johnson (United States), Luke Donald (Europe)
U.S. roster: Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas
European roster: Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Nicolai Hojgaard, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka
The streak: The Americans have not won a Ryder Cup in Europe since 1993 at the Belfry.
The context: Eleven of the 24 players in this Ryder Cup were not born the last time the Americans won in Europe.
LIV effect: Eight players from 2021 Ryder Cup joined LIV Golf. Brooks Koepka is the only one who made it back to the Ryder Cup.
Tale of the tape: The entire U.S. team is ranked among the top 25 in the world. The Americans have combined for 10 wins and three majors this year. European players have combined for 13 wins and one major.
Key statistic: Rickie Fowler is the only player on the U.S. team who does not have a winning Ryder Cup record.
Noteworthy: Both teams have four Ryder Cup rookies.
Quoteworthy: “One of the great accomplishments in our game now is to win an away Ryder Cup.” — Rory McIlroy.