Who was Mr. Ryder, and what's a dormie?

The Ryder Cup was once a late-season diversion, played every two years, and generally serving as a reminder of American golfing dominance.

Since 1979, when all of Europe was invited to replace Great Britain and Ireland as U.S. opposition, everything changed and changed dramatically. Along the way, the theatrical and occasionally testy competition has turned the Ryder Cup into a giant event — some say the biggest in golf.

READ MORE: Rory wants to beat the Americans, not just Tiger

The 42nd edition is making its French debut, just outside Paris, and therefore starts very early Friday morning (2 a.m.) on our East Coast.

A little refresher as we await Friday's opening matches ... 

Why Ryder?

Samuel Ryder was an English seed merchant who became an enthusiastic golfer later in life. He once enlisted coaching help from Abe Mitchell, a top-notch English golfer in the 1920s, and eventually pitched him his idea of a team competition between the two main golfing lands of the day: Great Britain and the United States.

In 1927, it all began, and Ryder donated the gold trophy. Before all that, Ryder was most famous for making a fortune selling “penny packets” of garden seeds.

By the way, former Stetson Hatter and current PGA Tour golfer Sam Ryder says, as far as he knows, there's no family connection.

Why France?

Every two years, the Ryder Cup alternates between the U.S. and Europe. Five European countries applied to host this year’s Cup, with France winning out. Since the whole of Europe became a Ryder Cup team in 1979, the event has ventured away from its English roots several times — to Spain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and now France.

Yes, France is something of an odd host, given that the country hasn't exactly taken to golf with gusto. In fact, the best known French golfer is probably Jean van de Velde, who's gained eternal notoriety by basically puking away the 1999 British Open.

The Captains

Jim Furyk (U.S.) and Denmark native Thomas Bjorn (Europe) are well respected veteran golfers, well liked among their peers, and owners of successful professional careers. But they didn’t earn this honor with their personal Ryder Cup ledgers.

Bjorn’s three Ryder Cup appearances all saw him on the winning side, but his own play resulted in a ho-hum career record of 3-4-2. But that sure beats Furyk’s career mark of 10-20-4.

What’s a dormie?

Dormie is among the terms or words you’ll hear during a match-play event that you don’t hear during your familiar stroke-play tournament.

If Player A has a three-hole advantage with three holes remaining, or four with four, two with two, etc., he’s dormie. Why dormie? Nobody really knows where it came from.

Other terms

Other things to remember: On Friday and Saturday, the teams play four two-on-two matches in the morning and four in the afternoon. They play one set of foursomes and one set of four-ball each day before Sunday’s 12 singles matches.

Foursomes: That’s when each two-man team alternates shots, playing one ball.

Four-ball: That’s when all four balls are in play, with each two-man team using its best score on each hole. Americans tend to call that best-ball, which some people mistake for a scramble.

Halves: No playoffs in the Ryder Cup. If a match ends tied after 18 holes, it’s halved, with each player getting a half-point. By the way, the entire competition can be halved at 14 points apiece, in which case the team currently holding the Cup gets to keep the Cup. It’s happened twice, in 1969 and ’89.

Who’s watching?

Being in France, and beginning early morning, this thing gets started before the milk man gets up. It’s televised from 2 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Golf Channel and NBC has it all and if you're not the type to sleep through the night, this is surely better than counting sheep.

Why the sweat?

Almost to a man, golfers will say they’re never more nervous than when they’re on the first tee of a Ryder Cup match — with the possible exception of when facing a key putt late in that match.

The late Dave Ragan, who went from Seabreeze High to the PGA Tour in the 1950s, played on the 1963 American team, and several years ago recalled the feeling of standing over a 6-foot putt on 18 to win a match with partner Billy Casper. He recalled looking down at the ball and noticing his pants legs flapping.

“I’m thinking, ‘Wow, it’s windy here,’ but I looked up and there wasn’t a leaf moving,” Ragan said.

More sweat

Francesco Molinari knows Ryder Cup pressure, and with his win in July’s British Open, he knows of Sunday heat in a major.

Care to compare, Francesco?

“I can safely say there’s more pressure in the Ryder Cup. It’s not even close …”

Career maker

Colin Montgomerie was a European Tour superstar through the 1990s, a four-time Player of the Year and eight-time Order of Merit winner. Some know him best, however, as the best all-time golfer to never win a major championship.

But he became a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, and it was likely his Ryder Cup career that put him over the top. Overall, he was 20-9-7, including a 6-0-2 mark in singles.

Tiger & Phil

It’s mathematically possible for each of America’s two biggest stars to reverse their Ryder Cup career records and tilt them to the positive. But it’ll take some work.

Europe’s upper hand over the past three decades is evident in the career records of Tiger Woods (13-17-2 overall, though 4-1-2 in singles) and Phil Mickelson (18-20-7, 5-5-1 in singles).

The U.S. had plenty of Ryder Cup studs during the pre-Europe days, but of those who played all or nearly all of their Ryder Cups post-1977, the best Americans were Lanny Wadkins (20-11-3) and Tom Kite (15-9-4). Over the past two Ryder Cups, Patrick Reed is 6-1-2.