The Ryder Cup takes place every two years between teams from Europe and the United States. The trophy is named after the person who donated it, Samuel Ryder. The event consists of various match play competitions between players selected from two teams of twelve. There are eight foursomes matches, eight fourball matches and 12 singles matches. The winner of each match scores a point for their team, with ½ a point each for any match that results in a tie after 18 holes.

The Ryder Cup takes place over three days with a total of 28 points up for grabs. On Friday and Saturday there are four fourball matches and four foursomes matches each day and the event concludes on Sunday with all 24 players involved in 12 singles matches. The team with the most points is the winner, although the side currently holding the trophy retain the Cup in the event of a tie. Eight of the last fourteen meetings have resulted in a winning margin of just 2 points or less.

When? 28th – 30th September 2012
Where? Medinah Country Club in Illinois, USA

Bet365 make the American team favourites at 4-5 with Europe at 5-4 and the draw at 11-1. There will be Ryder Cup betting on every match throughout the competition plus special bets on overall score and top scoring players for each side.

Europe to Defend the Title?

In 2010 Europe won The Ryder Cup on a sensational final day at The Celtic Manor Resort. Graeme McDowell joined the list of Irish golfers to have played a starring role in the closing stages. Eamonn Darcy, Christy O’Connor, Philip Walton and Paul McGinley had all written their names into Ryder Cup history and last year it was the turn of McDowell. He defeated Hunter Mahan to claim the winning point in the singles with a 20 foot birdie put on sixteen followed by a par on the seventeenth. Despite losing the singles 7-5, Europe held a decisive 3-point lead from the previous two days and won by 14 ½ to 13 ½.

Europe must now defend the Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club in Illinois on 28th – 30th September. Captains José María Olazábal and Davis Love III recently held a press conference at Kiawah Island ahead of the US PGA Championship and were both full of confidence at the progress of their respective teams.

The ten automatic qualifying places for the European Team were confirmed after the final round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on August 26th. The remaining two places will be chosen by Olazábal shortly afterwards. World Number One Rory McIlroy topped the European list by some margin and is still buzzing from his record eight shot victory in the USPGA Championship.

Other automatic qualifiers are Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson and Martin Kaymer. The final automatic qualifying place was confirmed for Kaymer after Nicolaus Colsaerts failed to gain a top two finish that would have edged him ahead on points. Sergio Garcia, absent from the 2010 Ryder Cup team where he acted as an assistant to Colin Montgomerie, produced a brilliant performance to win the Wyndham Championship in mid-August to ensure that he will make his sixth European Ryder Cup appearance this year. The Spaniard clinched his victory in America by two shots after the tournament ran over to a Monday finish due to heavy weekend rain.

Poulter and Colsaerts Wild Cards

The first player to receive a wild card to the Ryder Cup is Ian Poulter who has been a key performer for Europe in recent Ryder Cups. There was speculation that Padraig Harrington might be called up for the second spot but it finally went to Belguim’s Colsaerts. Thomas Björn, Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Miguel Angel Jimenez will serve as the four vice captains for the 39th Ryder Cup. Between them, they have played in fourteen Ryder Cups with a remarkable eleven wins to their credit.

After two years of accumulating points, eight automatic U.S. team places were secured after the PGA Championship with Tiger Woods topping the list and U.S. Ryder Cup appearance record holder Phil Mickelson sneaking in at eight. Davis Love III will be supported by Vice-Captains, Scott Verplank and Jeff Sluman alongside the previously announced Mike Hulbert and Fred Couples. The Captain will announce his final team on 4th September.

Tiger Woods may not have recaptured the form that allowed him to dominate the world of golf but he has still topped the qualifications and has enjoyed three victories. The automatic qualifiers include other major winners in Bubba Watson and Keegan Bradley as well as the wealth of Ryder Cup experience provided by Woods and Mickelson. Jason Dufner, runner-up in last year’s USPGA, will be the teams first “rookie” and other qualifiers are Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

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written by Stefan