Ryder Cup 2025 Rules, Format and Points System Primer for Golf Tournament

The 45th edition of the Ryder Cup will kick off this Friday in Farmingdale, New York. The premier team event in pro golf, the biennial competition pits stars from the United States against those from Europe in a thrilling battle for bragging rights.

The tournament features multiple formats and unique rules, and there will be some tweaks in 2025. For those familiar with the continental rivalry, things will feel quite familiar. For casual PGA fans, however, they may not.

Here's a quick rundown of what you need to know for this year's tournament.

2025 Ryder Cup

Carl Recine/Getty Images

When: Friday, September 26 - Sunday, September 28

Where: Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, NY

TV and Live Stream

Wednesday: Opening Ceremony, 4-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel (rescheduled from Thursday due to inclement weather)

Friday: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET on USA

Saturday: 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET on NBC

Sunday: 12-6 p.m. ET on NBC

Live Stream: Peacock and NBC Sports App

Roster Selection

AP Photo

Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald

Ryder Cup squads are selected through a two-pronged system. The top six players in the Ryder Cup points lists—the U.S. and European lists are separate—receive automatic bids. The last six spots on each team are selected by team captains.

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley added Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns to his team. European captain Luke Donald added Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick to his team.

U.S. Team

Captain: Keegan Bradley

Scottie Scheffler

J.J. Spaun

Xander Schauffele

Russell Henley

Harris English

Bryson DeChambeau

Justin Thomas

Collin Morikawa

Ben Griffin

Cameron Young

Patrick Cantlay

Sam Burns

European Team

Captain: Luke Donald

Rory McIlroy

Robert MacIntyre

Tommy Fleetwood

Justin Rose

Rasmus Højgaard

Tyrell Hatton

Shane Lowry

Sepp Straka

Ludvig Åberg

Viktor Hovland

Matt Fitzpatrick

Jon Rahm

Format and Rules

HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP

Rory McIlroy

The Ryder Cup is always intriguing because it features a variety of match variants. The schedule for the first two days is chosen by the home team captain ahead of the tournament.

Friday morning will feature four alternate-shot foursome matches, while Friday afternoon will bring four fourball matches. Fourball is a best-ball format in which both players on each team shoot and only the best shot counts.

Saturday's schedule will also bring four foursome matches in the morning and four fourball matches in the afternoon. The tournament will wrap on Sunday with 12 singles matches.

Every member of each team is required to play on Sunday, but there is no limit to how many times a golfer may play on Friday and Saturday. Rory McIlroy, for example, played in all four opening rounds in the 2023 tournament.

Matches will be played to a maximum of 18 holes and are worth one point apiece. Any match tied after 18 holes will end in a draw and will reward each team with a half-point.

Since the Europeans are the defending champions, they can retain the Ryder Cup by recording 14 points. The Americans must reach 14½ points to win it.

One minor rule change was implemented this year, after it was approved by Donald and the European team. The change would have allowed Bradley—who finished 11th in Ryder Cup points—to use an assistant as a de facto captain if he had picked himself to play.

Bradley left himself off the team, but the tweak could potentially open the door for more player-captains in the future.