Until about a decade ago, the Ryder Cup was one of those international sporting contests with all the prestige of the Goodwill Games and all the excitement of the world curling championships. Every two years a British golf team would re-enact Lexington and Concord, marching steadfast into battle and getting shot down by American snipers with names like Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus and Palmer. Over five decades, from the ’80s into the ’80s, the United States lost only once. “The American captain’s performance was judged by how well he stocked the bar,” says Lanny Wadkins, who played eight Ryders before becoming captain of the 1995 U.S. team that will defend the Cup title in Rochester, N.Y.

That changed in the early ’80s with the rise of the much-feared EGC, the European Golfing Community. In a rare, early example of European unity, the British team expanded to include all of Europe, adding talents like Germany’s Bernhard Langer and Spain’s Seve Ballesteros. In 1985 and 1987, Europe won back-to-back Cups. The latter– over a team captained by Jack Nicklaus at a course he designed in Dublin, Ohio-was the Americans’ first-ever defeat on home soil. “It was kind of like the America’s Cup,” says Wadkins. “No one knew what it even was until we lost it, but then they sure wanted to go get it back.”

That wouldn’t happen until 1991, at Kiawah Island, S.C., when Langer missed a six-foot putt on the final hole of the final match. But fans found far more to like in Cup competition than just the high drama. There was the appeal of one of the most fiercely individual sports recast as a team contest. “Most successful golfers are loners–they like to golf alone and eat alone,” says Bernard Gallacher, the European captain since 1991. “But when the flags go up and the national anthem is played, they suddenly feel part of a team.”

The spectators also like that, patriotism being the last refuge of sports fans too. The Cup is scored on match play–head-to-head duels to win individual holes rather than counting total strokes (box). Duffers, who know what it means to rub a putt and blow a $2 Nassau against a rival, love that sort of thing. The Ryder Cup also provides stat-obsessed sports fans with golf’s version of a pennant race. For two years between Cups, players score points for tournament showings–with the top 10 guaranteed places on the team. In addition each captain gets to add two players.

World’s best: Golfers compete ferociously to make the team. At the recent PGA championship, the last qualifying tournament, Curtis Strange complained that Ryder Cup frenzy was obscuring one of golf’s four major championships. But most thought it just added excitement when Brad Faxon shot a 63 on Sunday, including a record 28 on the front nine, to skip into fifth place, the exact finish he needed to land on the last Ryder Cup spot. Fans were cheering “Ryder Cup,” as the 34-year-old Faxon, in his 12th year on the tour, fashioned the best final round in the PGA’s 77-year history. “I’ll be playing with the best in the world,” says Faxon. “It means as much as anything I’ve ever done.”

No one figures to be more nervous than Lanny Wadkins in his unfamiliar nonplaying role. “I’m sure I’ll have enough stomach acid to wear the chrome off a set of irons,” he says. And with good reason. The European team boasts three Masters champions in Ballesteros, Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam, and captain Gallacher has declared in no uncertain terms, “We aim to come and win it.” But current Masters champion Ben Crenshaw, who made his first team since 1987, says he’s not sure the Ryder Cup is something you can aim at. He says, “In a three-day match like this, what it boils down to is sometimes you catch it and sometimes you don’t.” Like a wave, or a fever.

Despite their somewhat daunting appearance, the rules to the Ryder Cup really aren’t that complicated.

Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, N.Y.

Sept. 22 to 24

Twelve players each. U.S. captain: Lanny Wadkins (above). Euro captain: Bernard Gallacher.

Twenty-eight matches. The U.S. needs 14 points to retain the Cup; the Euros must tally 14 1/2

Eight matches of foursomes. Team members play the same ball, alternating shots.

Eight matches of foursomes, but each team member plays his own ball.

Twelve singles matches.