RYDER CUP PREVIEW / How to watch, teams, the golf course, and the format
La Guerre à Le Golf? Here is all you need to know ahead of one of the most anticipated events on the sporting calendar; The Ryder Cup.
The Ryder Cup is now officially an insane golf tournament.
From humble beginnings when a team of golfers from the USA played against a team from Great Britain at Gleneagles in 1921, the popularity has skyrocketed in the last decade.
Perhaps the beginning of the surge in popularity came in 1979 when it was decided that continental European golfers should join the golfers from Great Britain and Ireland. Reportedly the first suggestion came from Jack Nicklaus to make the matches more competitive.
Up until that point, USA had won 19 of the previous 22 Ryder Cups – since the inclusion of continental European golfers, Team Europe have an 11-8 winning record. And to give you some idea of how competitive things have become some of the previous Ryder Cups have been given names such as “The Battle of Brookline” (1999) and “The War by the Shore” (1991) and “The Miracle at Medinah” (2012).
Could we see this week’s Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in France eventually become known as “The Face-Off in France” or “La Guerre à Le Golf”? You better watch and see.
HOW TO WATCH?
FoxSports Australia have the exclusive rights to the Ryder Cup in Australia – which is a pity because if their was one tournament I was encourage all golfers, and non-golfers to watch on TV it would be this one. Teams, match play and some insane crowds; if you can’t get interested in this event then no golf on TV will.
Coverage starts at 4pm in Australia (AEST). Here are the full details for Ryder Cup TV Times in Australia
Thomas Bjorn
Assistants
Luke Donald
Padriag Harrington
Robert Karlsson
Graeme McDowell
Lee Westwood
Rory McIlroy
Henrik Stenson
Jon Rahm
Tommy Fleetwood
Alexander Noren
Sergio Garcia
Paul Casey
Tyrell Hatton
Justin Rose
Francesco Molinari
Ian Poulter
Thorbjorn Olesen
Dustin Johnson
Brooks Koepka
Justin Thomas
Bryson DeChambeau
Phil Mickelson
Tiger Woods
Jordan Spieth
Patrick Reed
Bubba Watson
Rickie Fowler
Webb Simpson
Tony Finau
Jim Furyk
Assistants
David Duval
Zach Johnson
Steve Stricker
Matt Kuchar
Davis Love III
THE GOLF COURSE
The host course for this week’s Ryder Cup is Le Golf National in Paris, France and it’s probably not the sort of golf course you would expect considering it’s Team Europe’s turn to host.
As some golf experts have pointed out, it’s not exactly s subtle looking course and certainly not one that looks like it sits naturally in its surrounds.
Le Golf National is a beast and one that might look more at home in the US. Fairway bunkers nestled into deep rough, fairways lined with water is what you’re going to see this week. It’ll be compelling viewing no matter where this event is played and the final four holes are jaw-dropping for a variety of reasons.
But let’s forget about the course for a minute and check out the incredible infrastructure that has been set up around the golf course. How about the size of that grandstand around the 1st tee!? It’s going to be insane.
FORMAT
The Ryder Cup takes places over three days – with three or four days of practice rounds, dinners and fashion shoots preceding it.
Friday and Saturday consist of 4x fourball matches in the morning, followed by 4x foursome matches in the afternoon.
Sunday sees every player from each team playing 12 singles matches. With 28 points up for grabs, 14.5 points are required to win the Ryder Cup.
The players and coaches are raring to go…
