Europe and the United States will battle it out in the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup this weekend at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, the first edition to be held in Italy.

Here AFP Sport outlines the format and schedule for the tournament ahead of Thursday's opening ceremony:

The format

Europe and the USA both have 12 players at their disposal, six of whom qualified automatically via their performance on the European and PGA tours and another six selected by respective captains Luke Donald and Zach Johnson.

The two teams then battle it out over 28 18-hole matches across three days which are worth one point and can be won, lost or tied, with tied matches earning each side half a point.

Friday and Saturday feature one session each of foursomes and fourball, while Sunday is given over to 12 matches of singles matchplay.

Whichever team reaches 14.5 points wins the Ryder Cup, and if Europe and the USA finish level on Sunday evening the Americans will retain the trophy as they won two years ago at Whistling Straits.

Foursomes

Ryder Cup foursomes feature four pairings from Europe and USA facing off against one another. Four points are up for grabs.

In a match, each pairing has one ball and they take it in turns to take a shot. The players taking opening tee shots for each duo also alternates on every hole.

A hole is won by whichever pairing shoots the lowest score, and the one which wins the most holes wins the match. If no winner is found over the 18 holes, each team gets half a point.

Fourball

In fourball the USA and Europe captains again pick four pairings for four matches. The scoring format is identical, but this time each player has a ball.

The player who shoots the lowest score on any given hole wins that hole for their team. Again, the team which wins the most holes wins the match. If no winner is found over the 18 holes, each team gets half a point.

Singles

The traditional finale to any Ryder Cup weekend, the Sunday singles are a more straightforward affair: 12 matches which feature one player from each team battling it out.

The player that shoots the lowest score on any given hole wins that hole. Whoever wins the most holes wins the match. If no winner is found over the 18 holes, each team gets half a point.

Schedule (times GMT)

Friday

-- Four foursomes matches (tee offs 0535 to 0620)

-- Four fourball matches (tee offs 1025 to 1110)

Saturday

-- Four foursomes matches (tee offs 0535 to 0620)

-- Four fourball matches (tee offs 1025 to 1110)

Sunday

-- 12 singles matches (first tee off at 0935, then every 12 minutes)

td/jc