Ryder Cup 2012: Watch Live Stream Online of Friday's Play from Medinah; Preview, Pairings

The 2012 Ryder Cup is now underway at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago. Friday sees the beginning of the three-day event with the United States looking to win back the trophy from their European rivals. Coverage is provided by ESPN, with a live stream available on ESPN3.

Europe came out on top two years ago at Celtic Manor in Wales to continue their recent dominance of the event. But the U.S.’ only two victories since 1995 have come on home soil and captain Davis Love III will be hoping that the support from the crowd at Medinah can inspire his team of 12 to lift the trophy come Sunday night.

Love’s first decision was to pick his pairings for Friday morning’s foursomes. Two men who have claimed major championships this year will sit out as Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson bide their time to make an impact.

The experienced Jim Furyk leads off for the U.S. alongside Ryder Cup rookie Brandt Snedeker, who should be on a high after claiming the FedExCup and a cool €11.44 million just last week. European captain Jose Maria Olazabal has chosen arguably his strongest pairing to lead the team out in Northern-Irish major champions Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

In the second match, experienced European pair Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald—a proud Englishman, but someone who now calls Chicago home—take on Americans Phil Mickelson and rookie Keegan Bradley.

The next grouping sees Lee Westwood and Italian Francesco Molinari go up against Zach Johnson and Jason Duffner. In the final contest Tiger Woods will be looking to start putting right his disappointing record in the competition as he teams up with veteran Steve Stricker. The Americans face off with English pair Ian Poulter and Justin Rose.

On a course that Love has requested that the rough be cut short, there are sure to be some low scores. After the alternate-shot format in the morning, the afternoon sees the four-ball matches take place.