named his six captain\u2019s picks<\/a>.<\/p>\nBradley decided against picking himself as a player, so the team are: Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Ben Griffin.<\/p>\n
Next Ryder Cup: 2027 tournament at a glance<\/p>\n
The next Ryder Cup will be hosted by Adare Manor in Co Limerick, Ireland. The course is kept in such immaculate condition that it has been christened the \u201cAugusta of Ireland\u201d. The club is part-owned by JP McManus, who as well as owning lots of racehorses is a good friend of Tiger Woods. The American has made the trip to play in McManus\u2019s charity golf day at Adare Manor on several occasions. Could that be a hint regarding the identify of the next US captain?<\/p>\n
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Ryder Cup history<\/p>\n
One of the most-watched sporting events in the world, the Ryder Cup is distinctive for placing competitors from an individual sport into a team environment. The team dynamics and relationships have made for compelling viewing.<\/p>\n
Amateur golfer and businessman Samuel Ryder conceived the idea of a match between British and American professionals, with the inaugural Ryder Cup played in Massachusetts in 1927.<\/p>\n
The match was played between an American and British or British and Irish team until 1977.<\/p>\n
After nine US victories and one tie in 10 meetings, Jack Nicklaus wrote a letter to Lord Derby (then president of the British PGA) suggesting Britain and Ireland merge with continental Europe to make the Ryder Cup more competitive.<\/p>\n
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Ryder Cups became far more closely fought and dramatic by the mid-Eighties, and the extravaganza we know today was born.<\/p>\n
What is the Ryder Cup format?<\/p>\n
Most golf tournaments such as the Masters and Open Championship are strokeplay, where every shot counts and the player with the lowest score after 72 holes wins.<\/p>\n
The Ryder Cup is matchplay, meaning players compete as individuals or pairs against their opponents rather than the course. The pair or player with the lowest score wins the hole. For example, if Europe record a four on the first hole and USA a five, Europe will go one up. If the scores are reversed on the second, the match will go back to all-square and so forth.<\/p>\n
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The match is won when the advantage is bigger than the number of holes remaining. If it finishes all-square, the match is halved.<\/p>\n
![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/7415cc8bee0656292d57b840a158d988.jpeg\"\/)
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We can expect more passionate celebrations from Patrick Cantlay – Getty Images\/Patrick Smith<\/p>\n
There are two teams of 12. On Friday, there are four foursomes matches in the morning and four fourballs matches in the afternoon. This is repeated on Saturday. It means four players from each team sit out each session, with the team captain selecting his pairs and deciding who to leave out. There can be different pairs for each format.<\/p>\n
The only time all 24 players are on the course is Sunday\u2019s singles, when they go head-to-head in 12 direct match-ups.<\/p>\n
Those proficient at maths will have realised there are 28 points on offer, so both teams are aiming for 14\u00bd points to win the Ryder Cup. A 14-14 tie would mean the holders retain the trophy (Europe on this occasion).<\/p>\n
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What is the difference between fourballs and foursomes?Fourballs<\/p>\n
Two European players against two Americans. All four players play the course as normal with their own ball. The pair who record the lowest score on a hole (individual score, not aggregate) win the hole. So if three players par the first hole, but a European birdies, then Europe go one up.<\/p>\n
This effectively means two bites of the cherry at every hole, so captains favour picking aggressive players in this format. Even if they are slightly erratic, there is the insurance of a second ball in play. That is the theory, at least.<\/p>\n
A common strategy in fourballs is for one player to dissect a hole more conservatively, keeping his ball in play so his partner can be more cavalier.<\/p>\n
![\"Jose](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/f5abd2653b3cfde96b92990f799df828.jpeg\"\/)
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Jose Maria Olazabal and Seve Ballesteros formed one of the great Ryder Cup partnerships – Getty Images\/Stephen Munday<\/p>\n
Foursomes<\/p>\n
Two European players against two Americans. However, in this format each pair has just one ball in play with shots taken alternately. It is a much quicker format, but a far harder discipline. One bad shot can cost you a hole, in contrast to fourballs when you have your partner\u2019s ball to rely on.<\/p>\n
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For this reason, captains tend to favour their most consistent and accurate ball-strikers who can keep the ball in play. Par can be a good score in foursomes, while fourballs is all about making birdies.<\/p>\n
Players tee off on alternate holes, so will plot their way through the course beforehand to decide which player should take the odds and which the evens. For example, you might try to get the longest driver teeing off on most of the par-fives, or the best iron player on most of the par threes, if the course layout allows.<\/p>\n
Singles<\/p>\n
One European against one American in direct matchplay.<\/p>\n
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ryder Cup is an event which transcends golf and captivates a wider sporting audience, with the United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[1076,427,23719,23720,11383,99],"class_list":["post-116306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-europe","tag-golf","tag-keegan-bradley","tag-luke-donald","tag-ryder-cup","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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