The Ryder Cup starts Friday morning at 7:20. Here are a few tidbits from this afternoon's developments at Medinah Country Club:

-Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia will face Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the second foursomes (alternate-shot) match. Donald and Garcia are a combined 14-0-1 in foursomes during their Ryder Cup careers.

-Friday will mark the first time since 1995 that neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson have played in the first match of the competition. That honor goes to Jim Furyk and Brandt Snedeker. Snedeker was chosen because he's hot and he's so fired up about playing that captain Davis Love III didn't want him stewing on the sideline.

-Ian Poulter and Justin Rose will play in the fourth match against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker. Woods asked to play with Stricker, whose even demeanor and excellent putting complement his game.

Poulter has lost only three Ryder Cup matches. Two have been to Woods.

-The Americans have gone out of their way to act loose all week, but If the opening ceremony indicated anything, it'sthe Euros who are looser. They were trading high-fives and joking around while the Americans sat still.

-As I write in my column for the Friday paper, my biggest second-guess is that Love benched Webb Simpson and Bubba Watson. They're the two Americans who won majors this year, they love playing together, and the course is perfectly suited to Watson's bomb-and-gouge game.

-Euro captain Jose Olazabal almost cried when talking about his late friend and countryman, Seve Ballesteros. He said ``I love you, Seve." Later, in the press conference, he channeled his former mentor's Ryder Cup spirit: ``Play hard. Play with passion. And win the damn points."

-I'll be on 1500espn at 2:05 tomorrow from Medinah, and I'll still be here on Sunday for Sunday Morning Sports Talk from 10-noon.