The 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor begins at 4:30am tomorrow. Much like the ground everywhere on the eastern seaboard today, I’m moist.

Of the 24 players in this year’s Ryder Cup, 11 are first timers making this a difficult to predict competition. Recent history says that Europe should be the favorite, having won five of the last seven events. In addition, the U.S. has won the Cup on European soil only two times in the last 30 years (’93, ’81).
Here are this year's competitors:

THE AMERICANS
Captain
Corey Pavin – Had a reputation as a tough competitor in his hey day. Of late there was a minor controversy over his captain’s picks as Pavin is a big time God-squader and he selected three guys who are prominent members of the Tour’s weekly Bible study (Fowler, Cink and Johnson). The criticism probably isn’t fair as Cink and Johnson would have been more notable if they had not been selected.
Assistant captains: Paul Goydos, Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman and Davis Love III (US Captain in 2012)

Team Member (I’ve listed these guys in order of how confident I am in their ability to score points this weekend.)
Jim Furyk – Rock solid in the Ryder (unless he’s playing Sergio, who he is 0-5-0 against. Thankfully Sergio is an assistant captain and not a participant this year.) and is currently at the top of his game.

Steve Stricker – The best putter in the world for the last several years, and it may surprise some to know that he’s the #4 ranked player in the world.

Hunter Mahan – Was a stalwart of the victorious 2008 US Team and has loads of talent. His play of late has not been his best.

Phil Mickelson – Arguably the most talented golfer of this generation or ever. His game is not well suited to match play.

Tiger Woods (Captain's Pick) – I expect big things from Tiger this weekend. And Rory McIlroy’s comments stating that everyone on Team Euro is relishing a chance to face Tiger because of the state of his game? Not. Smart. That said, Tiger’s Ryder Cup record is disappointing across the board.

Stewart Cink (Captain's Pick) – Solid, experienced, great long iron player, and one of the most interesting guys to follow on Twitter.

Rickie Fowler (Captain's Pick) – Fowler is 21 years old, but by all accounts is very mature. He’s the most controversial of Pavin’s picks. I would have gone with Anthony Kim here, but I don’t hate the Fowler pick.

Zach Johnson (Captain's Pick) – After playing horrifically following his Masters victory, Johnson was arguably the hottest American on the PGA Tour for the last four months. When he struggles, its his putter that lets him down.

Matt Kuchar – Your 2010 PGA Tour money list leader. I really want to like Kuchar. His name is fun to say, he won the US Amateur, which is mainly match play, and he’s been playing great. But there’s something that never feels quite right...like he’s dying to fall apart.

Bubba Watson – Now starts the list of guys who I worry about. Bubba Watson is flaky. Aggressively flaky. He’s had no less than two incidents where he wrote down the wrong score for a playing partner and almost had them disqualified from a tour event. He’s southern…he’s folksy…and hopefully he’s got a little bit of what J.B. Holmes and Boo Weekly brought to the table in ’08.

Dustin Johnson – Considering all he’s been thru at the US Open and the PGA this year, God only knows the state of Dustin Johnson’s nerves these days. He hits the ball a mile, makes tons of birdies, and his penchant for blow up holes won’t hurt as much in match play. That said, I expect little from him.

Jeff Overton – Who? Has never been in my kitchen.

THE EUROS
Captain
Colin Montgomerie – Mrs. Doubtfire could never win the big one. Let’s keep it that way.
Assistant Captains: Sergio Garcia, Tomas Bjorn, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley

Team Member (Listed in the order they appear on the website)
Luke Donald – Controversial captain’s pick (selected over Paul Casey, who is ranked #9 in the world), but his Ryder record has been awesome.

Ross Fisher – You may remember him as the guy who had a huge lead at the Open Championship and crapped all over himself. I’m hoping that turns out to be what my 8th grade English teacher would call a “harbinger.”

Peter Hanson – Finished touring with Isaac, Taylor and Zac and is fully focused on golf now.

Padraig Harrington – Was the hottest golfer in the world a couple years ago. Now he’s a captain’s pick. He’s been playing like garbage and he still sounds like a leprechaun. He's got a loose swing and when he is "off" he can be unbelievalby bad.

Miguel Angel Jimenez – “The Mechanic.” In a tight competition with Rory to see who can look more like Sideshow Bob. He’s getting a little long in the tooth, but he can still get it done at times.

Martin Kaymer – 7 PGA tour wins, including this year’s Players and PGA. He’s very, very good and has no real flaws in his game. Several years back on a flight to Wales, Braniff inadvertently put his sense of humor on a flight to Stuttgart and it hasn’t been seen since.

Graeme McDowell – Another major winner from this year. His dick-target goatee can be distracting.

Rory McIlroy – He’s crazy good and generally seems like a cool kid. The Tiger comments were out of character and ill-advised.

Edoardo & Francesco Molinari – Rode to Wales on a single vespa powered only by their mutual sense of self-satisfaction.

Ian Poulter – Easiest guy to hate on the Euro Team. His outfits generally look like someone spilled a big glass of gay on the Preppy Handbook. He has absolutely killed the US in the Ryder. He’s probably one of the 10 best players in the world.

Lee Westwood – #3 in the world rankings, phenomenal Ryder Cupper, is still looking for Chester Copperpot’s treasure.

Prediction: I like the U.S. to hold on to the Cup in a tight one. Everyone has focused on all the young guys on the U.S. squad, but the Euro’s actually have six Ryder rookies to the U.S.’s five. The one wild card is the weather. Generally, bad weather is a big advantage for the Euro’s simply because they are more experienced playing in it. I’m excited to see Tiger’s approach to this weekend-—this is a huge opportunity for him to redeem himself in the eyes of many. Anyone on team Euro who says they aren’t intimidated by Eldrick anymore? I ain’t buying it.