Thomas Bjørn chooses Justin Rose and Jon Rahm as his opening pair on what could be the toughest venue in history

“Victory belongs to the most persevering.” Napoleon did not have a golfing joust of Europe and the USA in mind when conjuring up pearls of wisdom, but the sentiment feels wholly appropriate as France prepares to stage a historic sporting moment.

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The sense of anticipation around the Ryder Cup has never been more fevered, with the fresh element of a French host course adding to the theatre. The stage – pristine and sun-drenched – has seldom looked more fitting.

We are not fully in the realms of out with the old. Far from it, in fact. The opening session here will mark the return to the Ryder Cup in a playing sense, and after a six-year absence, for Tiger Woods. Patrick Reed partners him in the bottom match of the fourballs, against Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood. What a Friday this could be for the Englishman, his Ryder Cup debut falling on the first birthday of his son. This really is the stuff from which dreams are made.

The first act will belong to Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau of the US, who face Justin Rose and Jon Rahm. This European pairing marks a break from the norm, Rose and Henrik Stenson having formed such a formidable alliance in the past. With Europe’s captain, Thomas Bjørn, of a mind to play every member of his team on day one, Stenson should appear in the afternoon foursomes. So too Ian Poulter, quite possibly in a pairing with Rory McIlroy.

Quick guide Ryder Cup fourball pairings Show Hide Draw and tee-off times for the opening fourballs of the 42nd Ryder Cup, Europe v United States, at Le Golf National, Paris, France on Friday, 28 September (Europe names first, all times BST)

0710 Justin Rose and Jon Rahm v Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau

0725 Rory McIlroy and Thorbjørn Olesen v Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler

0740 Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton v Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas

0755 Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood v Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods

Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton have, on paper, the most stern task of the morning. They must battle Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. Match two sees McIlroy and Thorbjørn Olesen go head-to-head with Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. “For all of them it’s an opportunity to add to what their golf career is about,” said Bjørn. “I’ve always said one thing about the game of golf: players, they stand up and they are counted for what they do in the greatest events in the world. But legends are made in this event.

“That is where the public comes around them and can do so much for their careers. It’s an opportunity to go out there and be the best that you can be on a grand stage.”

Europe are well aware of the task in hand. By virtue of world rankings alone, the visiting team are one of the finest ever assembled in golf. Between them, they have accumulated 31 major championships. That five debutants appear in Bjørn’s band of 12 has also been a regular point of reference.

It remains an oddity that so many team events are defined by individuals. Woods’s resurgence on the golf course has coincided with a different outlook beyond it. Whereas the 14-times major champion was once such a closed character that fitting into the Ryder Cup dynamic was infamously problematic, Tiger version 2.0 is at the centre of an American setup anxious to win on European soil for the first time in 25 years.

The biennial meeting of Europe and the USA does not need Woods’s involvement, but it is unquestionably all the better for it. Victory at last weekend’s Tour Championship cranked the excitement to a palpable extent. Woods also has his own, questionable Ryder Cup history to alter.

Snapshots point towards his attitude. When closing a practice session on Thursday, Thomas placed a chunk of turf on the 42-year-old’s head in a very public jibe towards a receding hairline. Such a prank would have been unthinkable even a decade ago, where now it draws collective laughs. Herein lies what is widely cited as a US basis for success – team spirit. Nonetheless, when the gun goes, the group still have to hit shots and hole putts. Camaraderie does not automatically equal glory.

You cannot really say the phoney war is over when the phoney war never existed. Disappointingly for those of us who prefer the scent of cordite around sporting battles, the Ryder Cup has evolved – or regressed – into the territory of mutual back-slapping.

There is an obvious explanation for that; many of the participants encounter each other on Floridian school runs. Very cosy, very chummy. And not much use really. This may change, of course. Bjørn in particular has capacity to blow a fuse if suitably prodded. Poulter, McIlroy, Spieth and Reed are not known for shying away from confrontation should it arise.

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Le Golf National is the one baring teeth. This could be the toughest Ryder Cup venue in history. Relatively tight, firm fairways combine with fierce rough, rendering accuracy paramount. The contrast with the vast, horrendously dull expanses of Hazeltine, where USA triumphed two years ago, could barely be more pronounced.

In theory, this backdrop affords Europe a greater advantage than bookmakers have been willing to acknowledge. The unconvincing recent form of several American players is also an underplayed point.

For venue comparison, the Stadium Course at Sawgrass – which hosts the Players Championship – has been thrown up with regularity. Intriguingly, since Fred Funk prevailed at that tournament in 2005 only five Americans have done likewise. Four of them will feature here: Phil Mickelson, Woods, Fowler and Webb Simpson. European winners of the Players in the same timespan, Sergio García and Stenson, are also present while Poulter is a two-times Sawgrass runner-up.

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The Ryder Cup has developed into an unseemly corporate beast which, as is depressingly common at marquee sporting events, hangers-on identify as a place to be seen. At 7.10am (BST)(8.10am local time on Friday, clubs in hand for what is a treacherous tee shot, the main protagonists will at last step forward. “This is an opportunity,” Bjørn added, “to stand up and follow in the footsteps of all the great players of this continent.”

USA need 14 points to retain the cup, Europe 14.5 to snatch it back. A country noted for passion and flair provides an idyllic backdrop. The 42nd Ryder Cup will be one for the ages. Perseverance? A prerequisite. Napoleon would approve.