Ryder Cup 2012: Jim Furyk expecting big support from home fans

The last time the Ryder Cup was held on American soil was in 2008. This year, the tournament returns to the U.S. as it will be held at Medinah Country Club, in Medinah, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. The United States hasn't won a Ryder Cup since 2008, but Jim Furyk thinks National pride from fans could give them an edge in this year's tournament.

In a recent press conference, Furyk praised the fans of Chicago while noting that they could get very "loud" and "boisterous." He's fully expecting local fans to drown out the cheers of fans rooting for the European contingent.

Via ASAP Sports:

"Yeah, I know the Chicago fans are good fans. I know they are loud. I know they are boisterous. I think that's what I'm expecting to hear. I know the European fans, even with, say, 3,000 fans here, they can make a lot of noise. That's what they are good at. They have their soccer chants and songs. That's part of their culture as far as, you know, being heard, being loud. They are good fans, as well. But I know that 37,000 Americans can drown out 3,000 Europeans if they want to. So our job is to ‑‑ and that's kind of what happened at Valhalla a little bit. They let them have their fun for a while, and then when they got tired of it, they just started, "USA, USA" and made enough noise that you couldn't hear them anymore. Our job will be to get out there, try to make a good start, make some birdies and engage the crowd and show some emotion ourselves. I think if we can do that, I think the rest of the world will find out how good the sports fans here in Chicago are. "

Team USA features 11 of the world's top 20 golfers, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson. Team Europe's roster has every golfer in the top five of the world rankings -- excluding Woods -- making it very top heavy, but also extremely tough to beat, especially in the singles matches.

Team USA will see if they can take the title from Team Europe as the 2012 Ryder Cup kicks off on Friday.