Gone are the traditional weeks of stroke or medal play found on the PGA Tour—welcome to the Ryder Cup and match play. Here’s everything you need to know heading into the tournament.
When and Where
The 42nd Ryder Cup takes place September 28-30 at Le Golf National, just outside Paris. This is just the second time the Ryder Cup is being held in Continental Europe. The Americans won the last Ryder Cup on home soil, but have not won in Europe since 1993.
Team Selection
Each team consists of a captain, five vice-captains and 12 players. The captain is selected by a panel, and then he chooses five vice-captains to assist him leading up to and during the tournament.
To qualify, the U.S. players gain points at every PGA Tour event, World Golf Championship and major in 2018 up until the PGA Championship. The eight players with the most points automatically earn a roster spot, which this year was: Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson. The remaining spots, consisting of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau were picked by captain Jim Furyk.
The European qualification is a little different. Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood earned their spots for being the top point earners on the European Points List. The remaining qualifiers – Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thobjørn Olesen – earned spots by being the top four players from the World Points List. Thomas Bjorn selected the final four players – Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson – with his captain’s picks.
So which team has the edge? Click here for our take.
Scoring
Since the Ryder Cup is a team event, players square off against opponents and each match is worth either a point or a half point (referred to as a “halve”) if both teams have the same score.
Format
Day one and two:
The first days of the Ryder Cup consist of “four-ball” and “foursomes” matches. Four-balls is a version of “best ball” where each golfer plays with a partner, each playing their own ball. The lower of the two scores is then taken and that is put up against their competitors.
Foursomes is often referred to as “alternate shot,” where one player hits the tee shot, and his playing partner plays the second shot. One golfer leads off on even-numbered holes, and the other starts the odd-numbered holes. As is the case throughout the Ryder Cup, the team with the lower score wins the hole.
Day three
The final day of the Ryder Cup sees “singles,” where golfers play match play head-to-head, with the lower score on each hole winning.
Winner
Each match is worth a single point, while a tie is worth a half-point. The first team with more than half of the 28 available points wins the Ryder Cup. In the event of a tie, the defending champion retains the cup, which in this year’s case, would be the U.S.
