Team Europe needs to 'be together' in the Ryder Cup - Rose

"Be united" is what Justin Rose has told his teammates from Europe to do as they try to defend the Ryder Cup in the US.

The biennial tournament will begin at Bethpage Black in New York on Friday, and all eyes will be on the venue.

Rose, one of the more seasoned players in captain Luke Donald's squad, will be trying to win his fifth Ryder Cup game. This will be his seventh appearance.

Only four European teams have ever triumphed in America, and Rose was a member of the final squad to do so in 2012 at Medinah, where they won 14.5 to 13.5.

"We've seen Ryder Cups over the last 20 years or so go with home course advantage with the exception of Medinah," Rose stated to BBC Sport.

"The big question we aim to address is whether we can win. We must work together to do this since the hostile audience on the golf course will cause us a lot of trouble and difficulties.

"If we can stay united in our response to that, and find the level we've found all season, then I think the team itself is in great shape."

Since making his Ryder Cup debut in 2008, the 45-year-old, who began his golf career in Hampshire, has amassed 15.5 points overall.

He was selected as a captain for the first time two years ago to play for the winning squad in Rome, but after a successful season on the road, he qualified automatically this year.

Rose won the St Jude Championship in August, his first PGA victory in two years, and lost to Rory McIlroy in a play-off to just miss out on the Masters at Augusta National.

He secured the team's automatic qualification at Bethpage with five top-10 and seven top-25 results.

"An away Ryder Cup win would be way sweeter than a home one for sure," Rose stated.

"Everyone knows that, and Rory set the tone a while ago when he stated that it would be one of the greatest accomplishments in golf and sports right now.

"That's what we're pushing for."

Rose was 'delighted' by Team Europe's strength.

As a senior member of the European group, Rose will be able to draw from his expertise in New York this week.

Rasmus Hojgaard is the lone rookie on Donald's team competing in the Ryder Cup, but several members of the team will be attending the competition for the first time in the United States.

Since making their tournament debut in Rome two years ago, players like Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg, and Robert McIntyre have made an impression.

"Going into an away Ryder Cup, I'm really happy that the boys have experienced at least what happened in Rome," Rose stated.

"In addition to being excellent players, the guys on the team are masters at handling situations and overcoming obstacles.

"To name a couple, Ludvig was intended to be a superstar and appears to be one, while Bob McIntyre has been becoming better over the past few years.

"We obviously gained Rasmus, who was in Rome with us riding the buggy and felt like a member of the team, even though we lost Nicolai [Hojgaard]." This time around, he's a fantastic substitute despite being a half-rookie. I'm quite pleased with the crew. I am overjoyed.

At 21:00 BST on Thursday, the pairings for the first Ryder Cup matches on Friday will be revealed.

The BBC Sport website and app will have live text commentary and in-play clips every day starting at 11:30 BST on Friday.

Daily TV clips of the action are available on BBC iPlayer, while radio commentary is available on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.