2014 Ryder Cup preview: 5 things you need to know

The 40th Ryder Cup tees off Friday morning at Gleneagles Hotel in beautiful Perthshire, Scotland. The famed golf course will host 250,000 fans, who'll watch one of the most emotionally charged golf tournaments, held every two years.

Related: The PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles, Front 9 (VIDEO)

Europe has the edge. They're the defending champions, and boast the U.S. Open champion in Germany's Martin Kaymer, and The Open and PGA Championship winner - and world No. 1 - in Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. Europeans won three of four majors this year, for the first time in PGA Tour history. 

Related: Ryder Cup Day 1 pairings

However, Team USA boasts an average world golf ranking of 16.3, while Europe's average is 19.9. Small potatoes, but something to look at in terms of the highest quality players.

The Teams

The top nine players for each team were chosen based on the PGA Tour money lists, and the captains - Team USA's Tom Watson and Team Europe's Paul McGinley - added three picks of their own. Notables sitting on the sidelines are Tiger Woods, who re-aggravated his back injury in August, and Jason Dufner, who is tending to bulging discs in his neck.

Luke Donald was left out as a captain's pick, but McGinley made a strong choice in Ian Poulter, who famously stared down Michael Jordan in 2012.

*Captain's picks.

Tap here for an in-depth look at Team Europe. Tap here for Team USA's profile. 

The Course

The Ryder Cup will be played at Gleneagles Hotel for the first time since the tournament's inception in 1927. King's Course was the first course built at Gleneagles in 1919, followed by Queen's Course, and the PGA Centenary, this year's host course.

The Centenary was designed by 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus, who described the par-4 fifth hole as the toughest on course.

"This is one of the more difficult holes on the golf course, and probably the No. 1 handicap hole," Nicklaus told rydercup.com. "It's a beautiful golf hole, just relatively difficult especially with the prevailing wind against you."

The longest hole is No. 9, a par-5 at 619 yards. Before making the turn, golfers will have to solve the "Crook O' Moss" and avoid two ponds on both sides of the fairway. Once cleared, golfers will approach or lay up to the left of a third pond. Of five possible pin placements, three are at the top of the green, which sits on a downslope.

The Format

The Ryder Cup is unique not only in the etiquette of fans encouraged by the players, but for its tournament rules and regulations. A total of 28 matches will be played over three days, and Team USA needs 14 1/2 points to win. Team Europe will keep the trophy in the event of a 14-14 tie. 

On Day 1 and 2, Friday and Saturday, four foursome matches will be played, where player A and B alternate tee shots. Player A tees off on even-numbered holes, while Player B takes the odd-numbered holes. Each player alternates shots on the hole until its completion.

Four four-ball (best ball) matches will be played as well, following standard match-play tournament rules. Best ball wins the point, with half-points awarded if the teams tie. Remember: golfers are competing against one another, and not the course. No total scores, only holes won and lost.

Day three, Sunday, is for singles. All 12 members of each team will play head-to-head, with each match worth a point.

Check out CBS Sports for examples of match-play scoring, and a glossary of terms that will help you familiarize yourself with match play and the Ryder Cup. 

Miracle at Medinah

The Ryder Cup has been a competition between the United States and Europe since 1979, expanded from USA vs. Great Britain in previous years. Since the inclusion of all European countries, Europe's won 10 times to the United States' eight, with Europe earning retaining the trophy in 1989 after a tie. The Americans hold a 25-12-2 all-time advantage. 

The Americans, led by captain Watson, are looking for redemption at Gleneagles. Team USA's shocking loss two years ago at Medinah, after they blew a 10-6 lead on Sunday (they were up 10-4 at one point on Saturday), remains fresh on the minds of many. The Europeans dominated singles play, winning eight and tying one of 12 matches, to pull off one of the most miraculous comebacks in Ryder Cup history, winning 14 1/2-13 1/2. It was Europe's fifth win in the last six Ryder Cups. 

Watson will rely on his experience to guide his men. He helped lead the U.S. to a Ryder Cup victory in 1993 at The Belfry in England, the last time the U.S. was victorious on foreign soil. Watson has a history with Scotland, too; it's where he won four of his five Open championships. 

But Team Europe has one goal in mind: defend their championship on their turf. 

Noise, please

The Ryder Cup is an aberration, a golf tournament like no other; etiquette rules are shattered on the first tee. It is arguably the most entertaining golf tournament to watch due to match play, extreme pressure, and the fact the crowd is encouraged to cheer through a tee shot.

Poulter's tee shot on Day 2 last year exemplified what the Ryder Cup is all about, as he drove the ball while European supporters chanted "Ole! Ole!Ole!Ole!" and American supporters chanted "U-S-A! U-S-A!" 

Poulter wanted the noise. You can only imagine what the support for Team Europe will be like this weekend in Scotland.