Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is a biannual men’s golf competition that pits players from the United States against those from Europe. It is named after English businessperson Samuel Ryder, who donated the signature trophy cup when the games were first played in 1927. The tournament location alternates every two years between the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is jointly sponsored by the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America and the Ryder Cup Europe, the latter of which is associated with the PGA European Tour, the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland, and the PGAs of Europe. Although the American team consists exclusively of American players, Europe’s team has expanded its player pool over the years to include golfers from the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. Despite its prestigious nature, the Ryder Cup offers no prize money for its winners, although it does bring in huge sums in television and sponsorship deals.

Background

International golf competitions were not very common until the early twentieth century. Although a small number of professional golfers often traveled to compete in national championships, a specific America versus Great Britain challenge had never been broached. In 1921, a group of American golfers was chosen to sail across the Atlantic to the United Kingdom to compete in the British Open. An American golfer had never won the British Open, an observation made by journalist James D. Harnett of Golf Illustrated. Harnett wrote a letter to the PGA of America suggesting that they send American golfers to compete in matches overseas, proposing a golfers’ fund to raise money for the travel costs.

The PGA of America quickly took to the idea and was able to raise enough money to send a team from New York on the RMS Aquitania in May 1921, with Harnett joining to report on the journey and matches. Upon arrival, the Americans were invited to play against a team of Brits in a tournament casually referred to as “The Glasgow Herald” tournament, which took place in Gleneagles, Scotland, and was widely reported on by American and English news sources. The British team won this competition. Despite not winning the match against the British team, the Americans were victorious at the British Open, with American Jock Hutchison winning the championship.

The next organized match between American and British professional golfers did not occur for several more years. In 1926, American golf professional Walter Hagen invited a group of British golfers to compete in a match against himself and several other pro golfers prior to the start of the Open Championship. To enliven the competition, an English golf enthusiast named Samuel Ryder donated a large golden cup to be awarded to the winning team. Ryder also wanted the cup to be used for an annual competition between American and British players. The British team outplayed their American opponents once again, but due to a number of social issues occurring in Great Britain at the time, as well as the rushed nature of the match, the Ryder Cup was withheld until the following year when the game could be considered fair.

The first official Ryder Cup was held in June 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts. Each nation’s PGA organizations selected players for competition, and a set of official rules was drawn up to organize play. Walter Hagen served as team captain for the American team, while Ted Ray captained the British team. The United States won the competition in a landslide victory. Following the inaugural event, Ryder Cup officials felt that an annual game was unrealistic and decided to hold the competition biannually. In the years to come, the Ryder Cup would adjust its rules to allow professional golfers from other European nations to participate in a competition against the Americans.

Overview

The Ryder Cup involves a series of golf matches of varying formats. Originally, the occasion was a two-day event with different match amounts and total hole numbers. The event was expanded to three days in 1963, and in 1979, which was the first year continental European players were allowed to participate, the format was adjusted to the present format. As of 2019, the matches consisted of eight foursome matches, eight fourball matches, and twelve singles matches. Each team consists of twelve players who are selected to play various matches.

In a foursome match, two players from one team compete against two players from the other team. Each player hits for every other shot until the ball gets hit into the hole. Once the total scores are added, the team with the fewest number of hits, or strokes, wins. The fourball match differs from the foursome match in that each golfer plays their own ball. Instead of tallying the total scores of each player’s strokes, the score of the player from each team who scored best on that hole is tallied. At the end of each round, each team adds up its player’s best scores for each hole, and the team with the lowest score wins. Singles matches are one-on-one matches between teams. Whoever has the lowest stroke count at the end of the match wins.

The Ryder Cup matches take place over three days, from Friday to Sunday. The competition includes twenty-eight matches total, with four fourball matches and four foursome matches on both Friday and Saturday. The captain selects the eight players to compete in the fourball and foursome matches on these days. Sunday includes twelve singles matches that see all team members play. The winning team is the team with the fewest total points combined from the three days. Ryder Cup rules state that the defending champions only need to halve the cumulative points totals to win, while the opposing team must win the competition completely.

Bibliography

Berkley, Nancy. “Foursome or Fourball: What’s the Difference?” Women's Golf, www.womensgolf.com/foursomes-fourball. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Gleneagles—International Golf.” The Glasgow Herald, 7 June 1921, news.google.com/newspapers?id=r5ZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J6UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5829%2C4051487. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Golf – Kinghorn Tournament.” The Glasgow Herald, 16 June 1921, news.google.com/newspapers?id=t5ZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J6UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4320%2C5106382. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Golf Stars Leave for British Links.” New York Times, 25 May 1921, timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/05/25/98695351.pdf. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“History.” Ryder Cup, www.rydercup.com/history. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Jock Hutchison.” The Open, www.theopen.com/players/jock-hutchison. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Month at a Glance.” Golf Illustrated, Mar. 1921, digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5391/rec/2. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Rules of Golf.” United States Golf Association, www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/rules-of-golf/rules-and-interpretations.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.