The Ryder Cup: A very special golf tournament

The latest edition of the Ryder Cup, played out between the United States and Europe every two years in front of a global television audience of millions, takes place at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

German star Martin Kaymer is part of the 12-strong European team and says the competition, which began in 1927, is a special experience: “You are actually playing for an entire continent”.

U.S. golfer Bubba Watson goes further. He believes taking part in the Cup is “as important as my father’s military service in Vietnam”. The 37-year-old, a two-time Masters champion, is not on the team this time around but will be present as a non-playing vice captain.

Who came up with the idea?

In 1921, journalist James D. Harnett of Golf Illustrated magazine suggested a trans-continental tournament between the United States and Great Britain as a warm-up for the British Open. The British team won comfortably but an American went on to win the Open. The next edition took place in 1926 and a new trophy was donated by British grain merchant Samuel Ryder (1858-1936).

From 1973, the British team was bolstered by players from Ireland before golfers from the rest of Europe were allowed to take part from 1979.

Europe has won the past three editions, most recently at Gleneagles in Scotland. The U.S. still leads comfortably overall, however, by 25 victories to 13.

How are the teams selected?

Each team has 12 players. Between eight and 10 qualify directly via the PGA and European Tour points rankings and the respective captains then flesh out their teams with wild card picks.

One of Europe captain Darren Clarke’s wild cards was Martin Kaymer, who will be taking part for a fourth time, while the others were England’s Lee Westwood and Thomas Pieters of Belgium. Davis Love III is the U.S. captain.

What is the playing format?

On the first two days, there is one four-match session of four balls and one four-match session of foursomes. There are 12 singles matches on the third and final day.

In four-balls, each member of the two-man teams plays his own ball and the lowest of the two scores is counted for each hole.

In foursomes, each two-man team plays one ball, with the players taking it in turns.

As the defending champion, Europe needs 14 of a possible 28 points to retain the trophy.

Who are the favorites?

If you look at the world rankings the U.S. should win comfortably. But the beauty of the Ryder Cup is that the form book often goes out the window. Team spirit and tactics are key and the Europeans have every chance of securing another triumph despite having six rookies in the team.

"They are probably going to be the future of the Ryder Cup going forward and I feel very fortunate that they are here," Clarke said. "I have full belief in all those rookies. They are very, very talented players and I'm sure they will do their utmost to represent Europe the best that they can this week."