The eagerly anticipated 2018 Ryder Cup is now only three weeks away, and to build excitement levels we’ve put together a tasty information pack, where we run through when the competition takes place, where it’s located, the various players that are taking part, and who has the most wins.
What is it?
For those that don’t know the Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between the United States and Europe. The first duel between the golfing rivals took place back in 1979 in West Virginia, although between 1927 and 1977 the Ryder Cup was contested between America and Great Britain, which the former dominated with 18 wins to three, with one draw.
When and where is it?
The 2018 edition will, as always, be played across three days, from Friday September 28 through to Sunday 30.
The location alternates between courses in the States and in Europe every two years, with the latter hosting the event this time around at Le Golf National in France, on the outskirts of Paris.
Europe has won the Ryder Cup on each of the last five occasions it’s been played on the continent and a total of seven of the nine times on home soil.
Meanwhile, the States have not won in Europe since 1993, when they were victorious at The Belfry in Warwickshire, England.
Who is playing?
In total 24 players, 12 apiece, will take part under the tutorship of two captains. Europe’s team now has all of its dozen players in place, while we’re still awaiting America’s final pick.
Europe
Four players qualified via the Race to Dubai Points List: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood.
Four players then qualified through the World Points List: Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjørn Olesen.
Europe captain Thomas Bjorn then opted to pick Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, while his vice captains are Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood.
United States
Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson were the eight automatic qualifiers.
Skipper Jim Furyk went on to select the veteran duo of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, along with Bryson DeChambeau, and his fourth and final pick will be revealed on Sunday 9th September following the conclusion of the BMW Championship. Furyk’s vice-captains are Davis Love III, Steve Stricker, David Duval, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar.
Who has the most wins?
As we head into the 20th duel, it’s Europe who currently lead the way with 10 triumphs, to America’s eight, while there has one ever been one tie, back in 1989.
United States dominated the first three meetings, only for Europe to then bag a brace of wins, followed by a tie. The rivals then traded two wins apiece, while Europe have since grabbed seven wins from the subsequent nine clashes, including three of the last four, although it’s America who defend the trophy this time around following their 17-11 hammering two years ago in Hazeltine - their first win since 2008.
Meanwhile, in terms of players Sir Nick Faldo has accumulated a stunning 23 wins - a record - while he has 25 points to his name,
Who will win this time around?
The States head into the rapidly approaching competition as the odds-on 10/11 favourites to successfully defend the coveted trophy for the first time since 1993. Europe are priced at 11/8 to win it back, while an unlikely draw is out at 12/1 to occur for only the second time in Ryder Cup history.
