Ryder Cup captains – Zach Johnson (USA) & Luke Donald (Europe)
The 44th Ryder Cup will begin at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy on Friday, Sept 29 th . A dozen players each from the United States and Europe will go head to head in match play over three days – two days of Four- ball and Foursomes matches and then Singles on Sunday.
The U.S. are defending the Cup, having won 19-9 at Whistling Straits in 2021.
Here are 10 things you should know about the Ryder Cup:
- The U.S. has a record of 27 wins, 14 losses, and two ties in the biennial event that began in 1927 and was originally contested only between golfers from the United States and Great Britain. Golfers from Continental Europe were added in 1979.
- With the addition of European players, the balance of power eventually swung the other way. Europe has won the event 11 times while the U.S. has won nine times, with one tie. Europe has been even more dominant this millennium. Starting in 2002, Europe has won seven of the last 10 Ryder Cups, with the United States winning just three.
Team Europe pic.twitter.com/3oMqFFG49F
— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 11, 2023
- The last time the U.S. won a Ryder Cup on European soil was 1993, thirty years ago. The European Team is a perfect 6-0 in Europe since then. 1993 that was also the last time the U.S. successfully defended the cup, having won it in 1991 as well. Europe has successfully defended the cup on five occasions since winning it back in 1995.
Thank you @marcosimonegolf for an amazing weekend! pic.twitter.com/F2r3IF2uWi
— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) September 9, 2023
- Three rookies will be making their debuts for the United States – Clark, Brian Harman and Max Homa. Europe will have four rookies making their debut: Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, Austria’s Sepp Straka, and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard.
- However, there are significant differences in their records. Two of the rookies on the American team won majors this year –Clark (U.S. Open) and Harman (British Open). Meanwhile Homa is currently ranked No. 7 in the world. Harman and Clark are ranked 9 th and 10 th respectively, so all three are in the top-10.Aberg only turned professional in June 2023 and has never played in a major. In fact, he will be the first player in history to play in the Ryder Cup without having played in a major first. Hojgaard has only played in five majors with a best finish of T23. Straka does have two top-10s from his 10 majors though, including a T2 at this year’s British Open. MacIntyre has two top-10s from his 12 majors, but the last one came in 2021.
- European captain Luke Donald is actually a replacement as captain and was only named in August 2022. Henrik Stenson was originally picked as captain but was removed after he joined the LIV Golf Tour.
- Speaking of LIV, only one player from Saudi-packed upstart tour was selected on either team – American Brooks Koepka. He finished in seventh place on the U.S. points list, just missing out on an automatic spot. Kopeka did this largely on the basis of his play in the majors this year (second at the Masters, won the PGA, T17 at the U.S. Open).
- Ireland’s Rory McIlroy has played in the most Ryder Cups on either side with six. Next on the list is England’s Justin Rose, with five. Meanwhile two Americans have played in four Ryder Cups each – Jordan Spieth and Ricky Fowler.
- Naturally, McIlroy and Rose have played it the most matches too. McIlroy has a 12-12-4 record from 28 matches while Rose has a record of 13-8-2 from 23 matches.On the American side, Spieth has a record of 8-7-3 from 18 matches while Fowler has a record of 3-7-5 from 15 matches.
- This will be the first time the Ryder Cup will be played in Italy. Spain and France are the only two countries outside of Great Britain to have hosted a Ryder Cup so far.
Credits:-
Photo – The Independent