Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in an event officially called the Ryder Cup Matches by teams from Europe and the United States. The Ryder Cup was born in 1926, with the US competing against Great Britain on the East Course, Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, Great Britain. After more than 45 years of US dominance (Britain won only once between 1935 and 1973) it was extended to Britain and Ireland in 1973 and then Europe in 1979, which made the Cup considerably more competitive. Currently, the Ryder Cup Matches are jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour.

Format

The Ryder Cup Matches involve various matchplay matches between players selected from two teams of 12. Currently, the matches consist of 8 foursomes matches, 8 fourball matches and 12 singles matches. The winner of each match scores a point for their team, with ½ a point each for any match that is tied after 18 holes.

A foursomes match is a competition between two teams of two golfers. The golfers on the same team take alternate shots throughout the match, with the same ball. Each hole is won by the team that completes the hole in the fewest shots. A fourball match is a competition between two teams of two golfers. All four golfers play their own ball throughout the round. Each hole is won by the team whose individual golfer had the lowest score. A singles match is a standard matchplay competition between two golfers.

The matches take place over three days, Friday through Sunday. On the Friday, there are four fourball matches and four foursomes matches in the afternoon. On the Saturday, the same schedule repeats. On the Sunday, there are twelve singles matches. Not all players need play on Friday and Saturday; the captain can select any eight players for each of the four rounds of play over these two days.

Founding of the Cup

There is some debate over who suggested the idea for the Ryder Cup. James Harnett, a journalist with Golf Illustrated magazine appears to have proposed a similar idea to the USPGA on December 15, 1920 and, having failed to attract support, the idea was refloated by a Sylvanus Germain, president of a club in Toledo, the next year. This resulted in an unofficial match in 1921, won 9â€"3 by the British, and another in 1926, won 13½â€"1½ by Britain. Present at the second 1926 match, held on the East Course at Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, was St. Albans seed merchant, Sam Ryder. Having watched the play, Mr Ryder thought it would be good idea to make the match official and there and then the Ryder Cup was born.

Among the British, at the 1926 landmark match, were golfing giants Abe Mitchell, George Duncan, Archie Compston, Ted Ray (portrayed in the recent film The Greatest Game Ever Played), and Arthur Havers. From America came Walter Hagen, Tommy Armour, Jim Barnes and Al Watrous.

This first official match was held in Massachusetts in 1927. Ryder, who donated a gold cup and had agreed to pay £5 to each of the winning team, attached his name to the new competition. It has been held on a two year cycle since, apart from 1939 to 1945 when it was cancelled due to World War II.

The 2001 match was delayed for a year, as it was due to take place very shortly after the September 11 attacks. It was subsequently decided to hold the Ryder Cup in even-numbered years instead of odd-numbered years.

Controversial Ryder Cups

The 1969 Cup held at Royal Birkdale was perhaps one of the best and most competitive contests (18 of the 32 matches went to the last green). In one of golf's most memorable moments of sportsmanship, Jack Nicklaus, playing in his first Ryder Cup Matches, conceded a two-footer to Tony Jacklin after making a four-footer for par on the last green. The 'gimme' was very generous; Jacklin was far from assured of making it. Nicklaus said: 'I don't think you would have missed that putt, but in these circumstances, I would never give you the opportunity.' The result was the first tie in the Matches' history (the US retained the Cup) but some of Nicklaus' teammates and captain Sam Snead were less than pleased.

After accusing each other of cheating at The Belfry in 1989, the feud between Seve Ballesteros and Paul Azinger escalated at Kiawah Island. Azinger: 'I can tell you we're not trying to cheat.' Ballesteros: 'Oh no. Breaking the rules and cheating are two different things.' The constant goading intensified their desire to win and with their partners (Jose Maria Olazabal and Chip Beck) they produced what is regarded as the best pairs match in history, the Spaniards winning 2&1.

1999

The 1999 Ryder Cup held at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., caused great controversy. A remarkable comeback by the American team helped propel the U.S. to a 14.5-13.5 victory after trailing 10-6 heading into the final day. The U.S. went 8-3-1 in singles matches to seal the first American victory since 1993.

The competition turned on the 17th hole of a match between American Justin Leonard and Spaniard José María Olazábal. Leonard, 1-up heading to the 17th hole, needed to win one of the remaining holes or halve (tie) both of them to seal an American victory. After Olazábal's second shot left him with a 22-foot putt on the par-4, Leonard hit his shot within 10 feet of the hole and then watched it roll away from the cup, leaving him with a 45-foot putt for birdie. While sinking a putt of this length is unlikely, Leonard had made putts of 25 and 35 feet earlier in the round. Leonard holed the astounding putt, and a wild celebration ensued with other U.S. players, their wives, and a few fans running onto the green. Had Leonard's putt sealed the match, this type of behavior would have been inappropriate but moot. However, because Olazábal still had a chance to extend the match, the reaction by the American team is considered by many to be reprehensible. Knowing that a made putt would extend the match while a miss would assure Leonard of a half-point and the U.S. a victory (the Americans needed 14.5 points to gain the cup due to the Europeans' 1997 victory at Valderrama), Olazábal tried to regain his focus. However, he missed the difficult putt, and the American team celebrated once again (although the second celebration was more reserved than the first one).

According to the "Best of the Rest" section of ESPN's Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame program, NBC footage and press photos prove that no official rules (Ryder Cup or PGA) were broken when the Americans celebrated after Leonard's putt (i.e. no one walked in or crossed Olazábal's putting line). However, the game of golf is upheld by many to be "the gentleman's game," and while this attribute may be a hundred years out of date, there remain a number of unwritten rules and codes of conduct which the European players believe were being ignored.

There was still considerable bad blood after the match with some of the European players complaining about the behavior of the American galleries throughout the match. Sam Torrance branded it "disgusting," while European captain Mark James referred to it as a "bear pit" in a book recounting the eventInto the Bear Pit: The Hard-hitting Inside Story of the Brookline Ryder Cup, ISBN 1852278544. There was also reports that his wife was spat at by a spectator.CNN report 'A Mob demonstration'

Following the 1999 Ryder Cup, a number of the members of the U.S. team apologized for their behavior, and there were numerous attempts by both teams to calm the increasing nationalism of the event. These efforts appears to have been largely successful with subsequent Cups being played in the "spirit of the game."

Results

Year	Winning Team	colspan="2"> Score	Losing Team
1927	Worcester CC, Worcester, Massachusetts	United States	9½	2½	Great Britain
1929	Moortown GC, Leeds	Great Britain	7	5	United States
1931	Scioto CC, Columbus, Ohio	United States	9	3	Great Britain
1933	Southport & Ainsdale GC, Southport	Great Britain	6½	5½	United States
1935	Ridgewood CC, Paramus, New Jersey	United States	9	3	Great Britain
1937	Southport & Ainsdale GC, Southport	United States	8	4	Great Britain
1947	Portland GC, Portland, Oregon	United States	11	1	Great Britain
1949	Ganton GC, Scarborough	United States	7	5	Great Britain
1951	Pinehurst Resort, Pinehurst, North Carolina	United States	9½	2½	Great Britain
1953	Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey	United States	6½	5½	Great Britain
1955	Thunderbird CC, Rancho Mirage, California	United States	8	4	Great Britain
1957	Lindrick GC, Rotherham	Great Britain	7½	4½	United States
1959	Eldorado CC, Indian Wells, California	United States	8½	3½	Great Britain
1961	Royal Lytham & St Annes, Lytham St Annes	United States	14½	9½	Great Britain
1963	East Lake GC, Atlanta, Georgia	United States	23	9	Great Britain
1965	Royal Birkdale, Southport	United States	19½	12½	Great Britain
1967	Champions GC, Houston, Texas	United States	23½	8½	Great Britain
1969	Royal Birkdale, Southport	United States	16	16	Great Britain
1971	Old Warson CC, St. Louis, Missouri	United States	18½	13½	Great Britain
1973	Muirfield Links, Gullane, East Lothian	United States	19	13	Great Britain &  Ireland
1975	Laurel Valley GC, Ligonier, Pennsylvania	United States	21	11	Great Britain &  Ireland
1977	Royal Lytham & St Annes, Lytham St Annes	United States	12½	7½	Great Britain &  Ireland
1979	The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia	United States	17	11	Europe
1981	Walton Health GC, Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey	United States	18½	9½	Europe
1983	PGA National GC, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida	United States	14½	13½	Europe
1985	The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield	Europe	16½	11½	United States
1987	Muirfield Village GC, Dublin, Ohio	Europe	15	13	United States
1989	The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield	Europe	14	14	United States
1991	Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah Island, South Carolina	United States	14½	13½	Europe
1993	The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield	United States	15	13	Europe
1995	Oak Hill CC, Rochester, New York	Europe	14½	13½	United States
1997	Valderrama GC, Sotogrande	Europe	14½	13½	United States
1999	The Country Club, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	United States	14½	13½	Europe
2002	The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield	Europe	15½	12½	United States
2004	Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan	Europe	18½	9½	United States
2006	The K Club, Straffan, County Kildare
2008	Valhalla GC, Louisville, Kentucky
2010	Celtic Manor Resort, Newport
2012	Medinah CC, Medinah, Illinois
2014	Gleneagles, Auchterarder
2016	Hazeltine National GC, Chaska, Minnesota
2018	TBA (continental Europe)
2020	Whistling Straits, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

NB: The 1969 and 1989 tournaments were drawn, so the Cup remained with the previous victors.

Similar events

Equivalent events are:
*Solheim Cup — The women's equivalent of the Ryder Cup, featuring the same U.S. vs. Europe format.
*Presidents Cup — Men's event, held in odd-numbered years, with the same format as the Ryder Cup, except that the competing sides are a U.S. side and an International side consisting entirely of players whose citizenship makes them ineligible for the Ryder Cup.
*Walker Cup — Event for amateur men. Unlike the Ryder Cup, the Walker Cup has never adopted a U.S.-Europe format. The U.S. side is opposed by a team drawn from Great Britain and Ireland.
*Curtis Cup — Women's amateur event directly analogous to the Walker Cup. Like the Walker Cup, the competition format is U.S. vs. Great Britain and Ireland.
*UBS Cup — Men's event similar to the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. The competing sides are USA and Rest of the World. Six golfers on each side must be 50 or over, and the remaining six must be in their forties.
*The Seve Trophy — A European professional men's event, founded by Seve Ballesteros, that pits a side from Great Britain and Ireland against one from continental Europe.
*Tommy Bahama Challenge — An annual professional men's event, operated by the U.S. PGA Tour, that pits USA and International (rest of the world) professionals no older than 30.
*Palmer Cup: An annual match between U.S. and European college/university golfers.
*Concord Cup: An annual match between the Blue and Red.
*Tavistock Cup: An annual match between Isleworth and Lake Nona country club featuring some of the world's best professionals.

Notes

See also

*List of American Ryder Cup golfers
*List of European Ryder Cup golfers
*Junior Ryder Cup

External links

* Official Website
* Ryder Cup playing format explained
* Ryder Cup Diary - Unofficial News, Views and Insider Information