Ryder Cup 2018: Rules, Format and Points System Primer for Golf Tournament
There is nothing in golf quite like the Ryder Cup. For one weekend every two years the world's best golfers, who usually play only for themselves, contest one of the fiercest team rivalries in sport.
Partisan crowds create an electric, and sometimes intimidating, atmosphere the like of which is seen at no other event during the season.
The 2018 edition at Le Golf National in Paris is set to be no different. Europe and the United States both boast strong teams, while Tiger Woods' first tournament victory in five years at the Tour Championship on Sunday provided the perfect appetiser for the action.
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Here are the two teams in full:
There will be 28 points up for grabs across the weekend. As the holders, all the U.S. side, captained by Jim Furyk, have to do to take the famous trophy back home with them is hit the 14-point mark.
Thomas Bjorn's European side, meanwhile, will need to get to 14.5 points to claim back the trophy and triumph for the fourth time in five editions.
The format for the Ryder Cup is simple. Each of the 28 match-play contests are worth a point, with both sides claiming half a point should the match be all square after 18.
Eight matches are played on both Friday and Saturday before Sunday's singles, when all 24 players will be in action.
Friday, September 28
From 7:10 a.m. BST/2:10 a.m. ET - Four fourball matches
From 12:50 p.m. BST/7:50 a.m. ET - Four foursomes matches
Saturday, September 29
From 7:10 a.m. BST/2:10 a.m. ET - Four fourball matches
From 12:50 p.m. BST/7:50 a.m. ET - Four foursomes matches
Sunday, September 30
From 11:05 a.m. BST/6:05 a.m. ET - 12 singles matches
One of the most interesting facets of any Ryder Cup is the pairings. Where captains earn their keep is by putting together duos who can become more than the sum of their parts.
Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke famously took down Woods and David Duval, then the top two ranked players in the world, at Brookline in 1999 before Team USA launched a stunning comeback in the singles to win from 10-6 down.
And Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed were a potent combination two years ago at Hazeltine when the U.S. comfortably prevailed 17-11.
Each match is vital in the Ryder Cup. A scrambled half-point can be just as important as a 6 and 5 trouncing.
The key for both Europe and the U.S. will be not to get left behind early on.
In 2016 Europe lost all four matches on the opening morning and never recovered.
Given how balanced the two teams look in 2018 it seems unlikely that will be repeated this year.
There will be ebbs and flows throughout Friday and Saturday before the nerve-shredding culmination of Sunday's singles, and another fantastic Ryder Cup looks in the offing.
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