AN EVENT LIKE NO OTHER

It’s finally here folks… the Ryder Cup!!

In today’s blog post we will focus on the history and meaning of the Ryder Cup and I’ll give a brief preview of this year’s event.

The Ryder Cup is a competition between the United States of America and Europe.

Each region selects teams of 12 golfers to represent their country/continent. It is a unique golf event because most golf competitions, are focused on individuals competing against each other. However, in the Ryder Cup, each golfer gets points based on their match play performances each day.

The Ryder Cup is hosted every other year and the venue changes each time. The venue alternates between the US and Europe. In 2021, the event was hosted at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wisconsin (which the USA dominated).

This year, the event will be hosted in the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy.

History of the Ryder Cup

The first official Ryder Cup took place in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Americans dominated the first five Ryder Cups over the next decade and this would lead to Britain extending representation to Ireland. Between 1927 and 1979, Great Britain allowed for other players from different regions to play on their team. However, in 1979, Team Britain was officially changed to Team Europe to encompass all of the nations represented.

How is the Ryder Cup scored?

The Ryder Cup has three distinguished formats: Four-ball, Foursomes, and Match.

Four-ball : In four-ball, there are two representatives from each team playing at a time. Each player will play the hole normally. However, only the best score from each team is taken. Then, the best score is compared to the other team. Whichever team has the lowest “best score” then they win the hole. For example, let’s say that Team USA’s foursome pairing is Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler and they are playing against Team Europe’s Viktor Hovland and Rory Mcilroy. In this example let’s say they are playing a par 4. At the end of the hole the scores are as follows:

Burns: 6 (Double Bogey)

Scheffler: 3 (Birdie)

Hovland: 4 (Par)

Mcilroy: 5 (Bogey)

For this example, Team USA would get the point because Scheffler had the lowest score. In this case Team USA would be one-up on Team Europe in this match.

Foursomes (alternate shot): In foursomes, each team will pick a player to tee-off on even and one to tee off on odd holes. From there, each hole is alternate shot. Whichever team has the lowest score, wins the hole. If you tie, then the hole is halved.

Let’s use the same example from before.

On the same Par 4 as above, Sam Burns tees off. After that, Scheffler would hit the approach shot. Then, Sam Burns would hit the putt (because Scheffler isn’t missing the green obviously). This pattern would continue for each hole. The only thing that alternates hole-to-hole is who is teeing off. So, if Sam Burns tees off on odds, then Scheffler tees off on evens. Pretty Simple.

Singles: This format is just straight up match play. If you get the lowest score on a hole, then you get a point. If you tie, then the hole is halved. Singles is always played on Sunday so this leads to a lot of exciting outcomes. (hyperlink)

Let’s do a short example:

In this scenario, Max Homa is playing against Viktor Hovland. In a five-hole stretch these are their scores:

Hole 1: Homa-5 Hovland-4

Hole 2: Homa- 4 Hovland-4

Hole 3: Homa- 2 Hovland-3

Hole 4: Homa-3 Hovland-4

Hole 5: Homa-3 Hovland-4

In this scenario, Homa would be leading Hovland in a score of 3.5-1.5.

The main event starts on Friday, September 29th. The opening event is Foursomes in the morning, followed by fourball in the afternoon. This schedule repeats on Saturday. However, Sunday is all singles matches which leads to some very exciting finishes.

Who’s on the teams this year?

USA:

- Sam Burns*

- Patrick Cantlay

- Wyndham Clark*

- Rickie Fowler

- Brian Harman*

- Max Homa*

- Brooks Koepka

- Collin Morikawa

- Xander Schauffele

- Scottie Scheffler

- Jordan Spieth

- Justin Thomas

Europe:

- Ludvig Aberg *

- Matt Fitzpatrick

- Tommy Fleetwood

- Tyrrell Hatton

- Nicolai Hojgaard*

- Viktor Hovland

- Shane Lowry

- Robert Macintyre*

- Rory Mcilroy

- Jon Rahm

- Justin Rose

- Sepp Straka*

*Denotes Ryder Cup Debut

I’m super excited for this coming weekend of golf. What’s not to love about the USA playing against Europe? Absolutely nothing.

The Ryder Cup tees off on Friday morning at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy. Next week, we’ll have a quick recap and talk about how “good” golf isn’t as good as you think it is.

Take care folks and….

Go USA.

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