Starting in 1927, the Ryder Cup is a golf tournament that takes place every two years. The tournament is between the United States and Europe with host duties being transferred every tournament. Initially between the US and Great Britain, the Americans dominated the beginning of the tournament leading the Great Britain team to expand to all European countries in 1979. The teams are selected by qualification and captain selections. This year’s captains were Keegan Bradley for the USA and Luke Donald for Europe.
The tournament is from Friday to Sunday and involves three different types of match play competitions, meaning whoever wins the hole receives the point. On Friday and Saturday there are two different events, including four “Fourball” matches and four “Foursomes.” Each match has two European players and two Americans. The foursomes are in the morning where the pairs alternate shots and whoever has the lowest shot on the hole earns a point. A few hours after those matches conclude the fourball matches start where all four players play their own ball. On Sunday the format changes and is 12 different one versus one matches, called “Singles.”This format has changed over the years, initially being a two day competition with 36 hole matches.
This year’s tournament was held in the United States in Farmingdale, New York. The course they played was the black course of Bethpage State Park. It was looking like a blowout and complete disappointment for the Americans after the first two days but they pulled it around during the singles. The crowd in Farmingdale was not the greatest or most respectful, leading Sky News to call it the most abusive Ryder Cup in almost a century.” On Friday the score was 3-1 Europe in foursomes, and 2-1-1 in fourball. Saturday was not much better with the record being 3-1 for both events in favor of the Europeans. After two days the score was 9.5 to 3.5, leaving a large deficit for the americans to try and overcome on the final day. Needing to complete the greatest comeback in Ryder Cup history the US team started out hot and kept all the matches close. In the first four matches the final hole was intense. Cameron Young and Justin Thomas sunk putts on the 18th hole to win their match. Bryson Dechambeau overcame a five hole deficit to tie and Scottie Scheffler beat Rory after he went 0-4 in the rest of the weekend. Ultimately the Europeans got just enough points to retain the cup and win back to back tournaments.
The tournament had most of the world’s top players but a few led each team. For Europe Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Jon Rahm all had amazing weekends and for the Americans it was Cameron Young, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, and J.J. Spaun. In 2027 the tournament returns to Europe and is going to be at Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland.