KITE PAIRS WOODS WITH O'MEARA; RYDER CUP PLAY BEGINS TODAY : RYDER CUP AT A GLANCE.

Byline: Joe Concannon The Boston Globe

The opposing captains are as different as the composition of their respective teams, which only serves to heighten the confrontational atmosphere as defending champion Europe squares off with the United States this morning in the 32nd Ryder Cup at Valderrama Golf Course.

Seve Ballesteros: fiery and emotional.

Tom Kite: ordered, analytical, and introspective.

This is a special time and place for Ballesteros, who as a player was so much a part of the rebirth of the competition when it became apparent a team representing Great Britain and Ireland couldn't keep up with the deeper American teams. The parameters were expanded to include all of Europe, and the team from this side of the pond has a 3-2-1 edge in the last six matches. Ballesteros is now the European captain, and the competition is being contested in his home country in this lovely Andalucian town along the Mediterranean coast near the Rock of Gilbraltar.

Kite is Ballesteros' U.S. counterpart, a Texan who was noted for his consistency as a player, knocking on the door of greatness but winning only one major championship (the 1992 US Open). As Ballesteros was compiling an impressive 20-12-5 record in Ryder Cup competition, Kite was putting together a 15-9-1 ledger.

If the competition has partly become a game of one-upmanship, Ballesteros may have scored an early victory. He asked to switch the order of the first two days of matches, putting the better-ball competition in the morning segment today. Kite had no objections.

``They approached me,'' said Kite, ``and I said it really didn't make a whole lot of difference to me one way or the other. You've got to play four-ball and foursomes both days.''

From 1983-91 when Ballesteros was an integral part of the European side, they held a 28-12 victory margin in better-ball play.

The captains took turns Thursday in the press interview area announcing the first-round pairings of their teams. Kite's was notable not because of the players he chose to send out in the four matches but because of one of the players he decided to sit down. British Open champion Justin Leonard, who has looked up to Kite since he followed him by several years at the University of Texas, won't play. ``I had to leave four out,'' said Kite. ``I'd love to pair everybody up, but I felt for best-ball, this is a pretty outstanding lineup.''

So this is the way they will leave the first tee. PGA champion Davis Love and Phil Mickelson will meet Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain and Costantino Rocca of Italy. Fred Couples and Brad Faxon will face the English pair of veteran Nick Faldo and newcomer Lee Westwood. Tom Lehman and Jim Furyk will vie with the Swedish pairing of Jesper Parnevik and Per-Ulrik Johansson. Masters champion Tiger Woods and Orlando, Fla., neighbor Mark O'Meara will go against Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Germany's Bernhard Langer.

The U.S. players who won't participate in addition to Leonard are Kite's selection, Lee Janzen, plus Jeff Maggert and Scott Hoch. The Europeans who will watch and wait their turn are Irishman Darren Clarke, Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, Ian Woosnam of Wales, and Thomas Bjorn, the first Dane to play in the Ryder Cup. The surprises include the presence of Faxon, who had a splendid two-month stretch between the end of March and the end of May but has been ineffective since and is in the midst of a divorce.

Ballesteros, who responded to chants of ``Seve . . . Seve . . . Seve'' at the emotional opening ceremonies, was up early Thursday morning. He phoned assistant captain Miguel Angel Jimenez at 5:15 and said, ``Come over to my room. We have to make the pairings.'' Recalled Ballesteros, ``He said, `Are you crazy?' I said, `I have a very rough idea, and I think it's a good time because in the morning I'm more sharp.'''

The difference in the captains' approach was reflected in their interpretation of protocol. Ballesteros said he hadn't talked to any of his players yet but indicated at the 2 p.m. conference that ``I assume they're having lunch and watching the TV, so by now, they should know.'' Kite had already been out on the course and had talked to the 12 members of his team by the time he showed up at 2:30. Why did he elect to tell the four players who aren't on the sheet they weren't playing? ``Because they are part of the team,'' responded Kite.

Ballesteros, who found himself at the center of a controversy when countryman Miguel Angel Martin was kicked off the team because of a wrist injury, was buoyed by the cheers of the vast crowd that turned out for the opening ceremonies.

Why was the notoriously slow Langer in the final foursome? ``I thought if we put him in the first match at 9, we'd all probably miss lunch,'' said Ballesteros.

As the large block letters on the scoreboard at the end of the driving range proclaimed, ``Bienviendo a la Ryder Cup.'' Welcome to the Ryder Cup. Let the matches begin.

THE COURSE: The 6,819-yard, par-71 Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain.

HISTORY: The first official match was in 1927. The U.S. has won 23 of the 31 matches with two ending in ties. In 1979, the team from Britain and Ireland was expanded to include all of Europe.

FORMAT: Eight better-ball matches, eight alternate-shot matches and 12 singles matches, each worth one point for a total of 28 points. In a tie match each side gets a half point. The first team to get 14-1/2 points wins. In the event of a 14-14 tie, the defending champion keeps the cup

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ``We're going to have the opportunity over the next couple of days to find out if Colin was right,'' - U.S. captain Tom Kite responding to Colin Montgomerie saying the tight Valderrama course does not suit Tiger Woods.

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Box: RYDER CUP AT A GLANCE (See Text)