The Ryder Cup starts this Friday. The Ryder Cup itself is a large gold chalice originally given by English seed merchant Samuel Ryder. ‘Originally’ meaning back in 1927. Since 1920 there had been several unofficial matches between teams of American golfers and teams of British golfers. Ryder himself was an avid golfer, and though accounts vary, the general story is that he very much enjoyed watching a match played in 1926 in England and was persuaded to give a cup, and the sum of 5 pounds, to the winning team, for an official event to be played in 1927. The first official Ryder Cup was played in Worcester Massachusetts, at the Worcester Country Club. It has been held every other year since then, except for the World War II years and the year 2001. It was supposed to take place the week after Sept. 11. It was cancelled that year and moved to the next year. This resulted in the Cup moving from odd numbered years to even numbered years. When it began the Ryder Cup was the only official team competition for professional golfers. Several others have since started up, but most of them are fairly new, since the 1990’s or so. The exception to this is The Walker Cup, which is like the Ryder Cup, but for amateurs. The Walker Cup began in 1922.
And that is all the history you will get here. Books, essays, articles etc. have been written about the Ryder Cup ad naseum( Personally I would recommend this one.). If you feel the need to dip deeper into it’s origins and past matches, feel free. The Ryder Cup is one of golf’s great traditions, and ( repeat after me ) golf is nothing if not tradition. So there is a wealth of information out there. As for us, we will deal with the here and now.
So. The basics. The Ryder Cup is a series of matches played between a team of American golfers and a team of European golfers. ‘European’ in this case being defined as any player that is a citizen of a country that is part of the PGA European Tour. So Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, although great golfers, are not eligible to play in The Ryder Cup. The event itself is held every other year, alternating between American and European courses. So this year it will be played at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2006 it was played at The K Club in Straffen, County Kildare, Ireland and In 2010 it will move back to a European course.
Each team consists of 12 players. The team captains are chosen by their respective PGA organizations. So the head of the PGA of America chooses the American captain, and the head of the PGA European Tour chooses the European captain. The captains for the next cup are named within a few weeks after the current cup finishes.
The way players get on a team is by earning Ryder Cup points. The way the points are earned differs between the American and Europeans. The Americans are basically awarded 1 point for each $1000 they earn in the non-Ryder Cup year, 2 points for each $1000 they earn in a Major during a Ryder Cup year, and ½ point for each $1000 they earn in a non-major during a Ryder Cup year. There are some slight variations to this, but that is basically how it works, and that’s good enough for this discussion. The 8 players with the most Ryder Cup points are automatically on the American team. The last four are ‘Captain’s picks’. Meaning the captain of the American team picks the last 4 players, based on who he thinks is hot at the moment, and will perform well under match play conditions. There is much discussion/commentary/second guessing every time a captain is named and then again 20 months later when he announces his picks. It’s the kind of thing that keeps the golf writers in business.
European players earn points based on the money they make at PGA European Tour sanctioned events. The European tour knows that it’s players will play in many of the American tour events, because of the money to be made, so many of the American tour events are also European tour sanctioned events. But not all. And a European player will have to play in several events actually in Europe, in order to earn enough Ryder Cup points to make the team. Players earn 1 point per Euro earned. For the European team the top 10 players make the team, and the captain only gets 2 picks.
The format for the tournament is match play. The matches take place over 3 days. The format has changed slightly over the years, but this years format is: Alternate shot Friday and Saturday morning, Best Ball Friday and Saturday afternoon, and singles matches on Sunday. What this means is that Friday morning 4 sets of foursomes will play a round of golf. Each set will contain a team of 2 American players and a team of 2 European players. The players on each team will alternate teeing off. So player 1 will tee off on hole 1, player 2 on hole 2, player 1 on hole 3, etc. They will then play alternate shot ( they alternate hitting the ball ). Which ever team uses the fewest strokes to get the ball in the hole wins the hole. At the end of the round the team with the most holes wins the round, and 1 point. In the afternoon the captains adjust and change the teams, according to how well the players are doing, and 4 foursomes of 2 teams tee it up again and play another round of golf, this time best ball. Which means each player plays his own ball through the entire hole. The score of the best player on the team counts for the team, and the team with the best score wins the hole. And once again, the team with the most holes, wins the match, and 1 point. Friday night the team captains make further adjustments, and Saturday they all get up and do the same thing again. Not all players have to play on Friday and Saturday. The captains can pick any 8 players to play in any of the 4 rounds. On Sunday there are 12 singles matches, one American player against one European, basic match play format. The winner of each match gains 1 point for their team. At the end of the 3 days the points are added up ( okay actually the points are continually added up, and the possible permutations gone over, and over, and over again by the commentators. To the point where eventually you just put the TV on mute. ) and the team with the most points wins. Until 1985 the team with the most points was always the Americans. Since then it has been about 2 – 1 Europeans.
It is the job of the captains to arrange their teams for the best chance to win each match. And as you can imagine there is much discussion/commentary/second guessing on each team the captains set up. Golf writers and commentators LOVE the Ryder Cup. It gives them pages and pages and hours and hours of material. Add to that all the stories about it’s history and TRADITION that can be used as filler, and the coverage is basically 24 hours non-stop for the 3 days. This year’s Cup has the added advantage of being played on a course that was hit by the remnants of hurricane Ike. The possible stories are endless.
Unless you are part of a golfing household, have Tivo, subscribe to The Golf Channel, and 6 different golf magazines, most of this saturation of coverage will probably pass you by. Since that sentence describes things here at The Household, it obviously won't be passing us by.
But actually I recommend watching it. You will have to listen to Johnny Miller, and coverage that, like The Masters, consists of a lot of golf history. But it is like no other tournament. And it is always interesting to see how all these top players, who spend their careers playing an intensely individual sport, handle playing on, and being part of, a team. Sometimes with other players who they don’t particularly like. Also, the American fans tend to be a little, well, enthusiastic. Doing things like chanting ‘USA’. And wildly cheering good shots by American players. Which has caused some, shall we say, consternation, among the European players, who are used to more well behaved crowds. Things could get a little heated.
Personally this year I will be out of town this weekend, and I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to watch. Which is a shame. But I’m sure Jigger will be happy to re-cap it all for me when I get home.
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