Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men’s golf competition between teams of 12 professional players from Europe and the United States, played in a match-play format over three days. There is no prize money; the trophy and the bragging rights are the entire reward.
What is the Ryder Cup?
Golf is almost always an individual sport. The Ryder Cup is the rare exception. Every two years, 24 of the world’s best male professionals split into two teams and spend three days playing match-play golf for their continent.
The competition has been running since 1927, when it was a small affair between American and British professionals. Today, it is one of the biggest events in the sport, watched by millions and contested at major championship venues. The 45th edition, held at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, was won by Europe 15-13 in September 2025, with Shane Lowry holing the half-point that retained the trophy.
What sets the Ryder Cup apart from the four men’s majors and the regular tour calendar is its format. Players do not chase a stroke total over four rounds. They face one opponent (or one opposing pair) at a time, and the winner of each hole takes a point toward a team total. The team that reaches 14½ points first wins the cup.
How the Ryder Cup format works
The Ryder Cup format is match play rather than the stroke play used at most tournaments. In match play, each hole is its own contest. The lower score wins the hole, and the player or pair who wins more holes wins the match. There is no overall score for the round, and the match ends as soon as one side is ahead by more holes than there are left to play.
Across three days, the two teams play 28 matches in three different formats.
Foursomes (alternate shot). In foursomes, two players form a pair and share one ball, taking it in turns to hit. One player tees off on odd holes, the other on even. A single bad shot punishes the partner, which is why foursomes is often called the toughest format in the game.
Fourballs (best ball). Each player plays their own ball through the hole. The lower of the two scores from each pair counts as that team’s score on the hole. Fourballs tends to favor aggressive, birdie-hunting play.
Singles. On the final day, all 12 players from each team go head-to-head in 12 one-on-one match-play games.
Friday and Saturday each have four foursomes matches and four fourball matches, with eight players per team in action in each session. Sunday is reserved for the 12 singles matches, when every player on both teams takes the course.
Scoring and how a team wins
Each of the 28 matches is worth one point. A win is worth a full point. A halve, where the match finishes level after 18 holes, gives half a point to each side.
The first team to 14½ points wins the Ryder Cup outright. If the final score is 14-14, the defending champion keeps the trophy. This has happened twice: the United States retained it in 1969, and Europe did so in 1989.
Teams and how they qualify
Both teams field 12 players. For the United States, the top six in the official Ryder Cup standings after a set qualifying period earn automatic spots, and the captain picks the remaining six. The European team uses a similar split, with six places decided by points from a European and a world ranking list and six captain’s picks.
The captain does not play. The role is strategic. A captain pairs players for the team sessions, decides who sits out each round, and sets the order for Sunday’s singles. Each captain also names a small group of vice-captains who help with logistics and player support during the week.
History and the Samuel Ryder story
The trophy and the event take their name from Samuel Ryder, an English seed merchant from St Albans who took up golf in his 50s and became a keen sponsor of professional matches in the 1920s. He commissioned the trophy from Mappin & Webb for £250 (roughly £13,000 in today’s money, according to the Bank of England inflation calculator). The first official Ryder Cup was played on 3-4 June 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts, where the United States won 9½-2½.
The gold trophy stands 17 inches tall and weighs around four pounds. The small golfer figure on its lid is modeled on Abe Mitchell, a British professional who was Samuel Ryder’s personal coach.
The competition was contested between the United States and Great Britain from 1927 to 1971, then between the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland from 1973 to 1977. By 1979, decades of American dominance had drained the event of competitive edge, so the team was expanded to include all of continental Europe. The shift transformed the contest. Europe has won 11 of the 15 Ryder Cups played since 2000. The all-time record is 27 wins for the United States and 16 for Europe (a tally that includes the earlier Great Britain and Great Britain and Ireland eras), with two ties.
Ryder Cup vs other team golf events
The Ryder Cup is sometimes confused with two other team competitions. Here is how the three compare.
| Event | Teams | Frequency | Started | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryder Cup | Europe vs USA (men) | Every 2 years | 1927 | 28 match-play matches over 3 days |
| Presidents Cup | International (non-European) vs USA (men) | Every 2 years | 1994 | 30 match-play matches over 4 days |
| Solheim Cup | Europe vs USA (women) | Every 2 years | 1990 | 28 match-play matches over 3 days |
The Ryder Cup is the oldest of the three and the only one with continental Europe on one side. The Presidents Cup was created by the PGA Tour in 1994 so that elite players from outside Europe (Australia, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and others) had a comparable team event.
Related Golf Terms
- Round — A complete game of golf, typically 18 holes.
- Rotation drill — An exercise focused on improving body rotation in the golf swing.
- Rough — The longer grass bordering the fairway that penalizes inaccurate shots.
- Run — The distance a ball rolls after landing.
- Resort course — A golf course associated with a resort or hotel.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often is the Ryder Cup played?
Every two years. The schedule moved to odd-numbered years after the 2001 edition was postponed to 2002 following the September 11 attacks. The 2020 event was also pushed back a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, locking in the current odd-year cycle.
Do Ryder Cup players get paid?
There is no prize money. Each player on the US team receives a $500,000 stipend, of which $300,000 is donated to charities of their choice, according to ESPN’s coverage of the 2025 event. European players do not receive a comparable individual payment.
Who has won the most Ryder Cups?
The United States leads the all-time record 27-16-2, but Europe has been the dominant side since 2000, winning 11 of the 15 contests played in that span.
What is “the envelope”?
Before the Sunday singles, each captain submits a sealed envelope with the name of one player who will sit out if an opposing player is injured. The two matches involved are then halved. The rule was used in 2025 when Viktor Hovland withdrew with a neck injury and US player Harris English was the named substitute.
Sources
- PGA of America. “The Untold History of the Ryder Cup Trophy: Origin, Meaning, and the Man on Top.” pga.com. Accessed May 2026.
- Ryder Cup. “How It Works.” rydercup.com. Accessed May 2026.
- Ryder Cup. “Meet Samuel Ryder, the man behind the Ryder Cup.” rydercup.com. Accessed May 2026.
- Wikipedia. “Ryder Cup.” Accessed May 2026.
- Wikipedia. “List of Ryder Cup matches.” Accessed May 2026.
- ESPN. “What is the Ryder Cup? 2025 format, teams, all-time winners.” espn.com. Accessed May 2026.
- NBC Sports. “Ryder Cup 2025 results: Match-by-match scoring with Europe winning at Bethpage Black.” nbcsports.com. Accessed May 2026.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Ryder Cup.” britannica.com. Accessed May 2026.
- Golf Monthly. “Ryder Cup Trophy: History, How It Got Its Name And All You Need To Know.” golfmonthly.com. Accessed May 2026.
