The Ryder Cup is a biannually golf competition between Europe and United States, it is so called after the man who donated it, Samuel Ryder, an English businessman and keen golfer, the Competition began in 1927. The Ryder Cup is considered one of the world’s greatest sporting events, every two years, 24 of the best players from Europe and the United States go head-to-head in match play competition.
The competition first began as an exhibition match in 1926 between a team of American golf professionals and their British counterparts at Wentworth in the UK. The first Ryder Cup competition was held in 1927 and was won by the US, since then, the competition was played 42 times, with Team US winning 26 of them and Team Europe winning 14.
Since 1979, Europe has won eleven times outright and retained the Cup once in a tied match, with eight American wins over this period.
The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe, it is held over three days, usually Friday to Sunday, in a match play format, where the first two day are dedicated to team match play, four foursomes match in the morning and four fourballs in the afternoon, while the last day is the singles match play where all 12 players from each team compete against each other to determine the winner.
The Ryder Cup is unique in professional sport in many ways, not least that the players do not get paid to take part or win any individual prizes. Despite that , it creates its own unique brand of competitiveness that few sports can rival.
