The rules

The Americans can't play team golf, right? Well let's see how they fare when we give them the chance to win back the sport's biggest prize - as individuals. No need for cosy team chats; no call for colour-coordinated processions with the wives in tow; just 12 stony-faced professionals versus the course.

We've taken the top dozen players from either side of the Atlantic and fed their names into our computer, Bernard. By way of a complex algorithm, Bernard has thrown all 24 together, torn them apart, mixed them up again and added a touch of tabasco. No need for captains in our game.

Throughout Thursday and Friday we'll be monitoring the fate of each of the players listed below. Matches will be scored as strokeplay events, so if Paul Casey shoots 72 and Charles Howell III makes 76, Europe win a point. By extension, you don't have to be a genius to work out that if both players make the same score, the match is halved.

If a player misses a cut, Bernard will replace him with the next highest-ranked representative from either the US or Europe. The winning team will be the first to make it to 24.5 points.

So, here are those all-important matches:

Match 1: Paul Casey (ENG, 18) v Charles Howell III (25)

Match 2: Ian Poulter (ENG, 31) v Jim Furyk (2)

Match 3: Padraig Harrington (IRE, 3) v David Toms (3)

Match 4: Anders Hansen (DEN, 42) v Boo Weekley (41)

Match 5: Sergio Garcia (SPA, 5) v Zach Johnson (15)

Match 6: Nicolas Fasth (SWE, 20) v Brett Wetterich (32)

Match 7: Colin Montgomerie (SCO, 33) v Phil Mickleson (2)

Match 8: Luke Donald (ENG, 9) v Steve Stricker (16)

Match 9: Carl Petterson (SWE, 44) v Stewart Cink (23)

Match 10: Robert Karlsson (SWE, 37) v Davis Love III (38)

Match 11: Justin Rose (ENG, 21) v Tiger Woods (1)

Match 12: Henrik Stenson (7, SWE) v Scot Verplank (26)