In September, one of the most thrilling and prestigious events in men’s sport took place, the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is a unique golf tournament that takes place every two years, with the location alternating between Europe and the United States. Unlike most other golf tournaments, the Ryder Cup is a team competition, in which 24 golfers, 12 from Europe and 12 from The United States, go head-to-head to try and win the highly acclaimed trophy.
Understanding the Format
It takes place over 3 days, made up of 5 sessions, two on Friday, two on Saturday and the final session on Sunday. Also, instead of using stroke play, where the score on every hole contributes to the players’ final score therefore determining the winner, this event employs the match play format. In this format, players battle against one another on each hole with the lower amount of strokes earning them a point in the match. At the end of each round, whichever player has won more holes earns a point for their team. If the match is tied after 18 holes, both players earn half a point for their team. In total, there are 28 points available to win, meaning 14.5 points wins the Ryder Cup.
The current Ryder Cup format consists of a foursomes match Friday morning, followed by a four ball match in the afternoon. This is repeated on Saturday before the final session on Sunday which is 12 1v1 matches to decide who lifts the trophy.
Foursomes
In Foursomes, there are four matches that take place and it is a 2v2 matchup. Players will alternate taking shots with their teammate, trying to shoot the best score between them.
Four Ball
Four ball is slightly different however as although it is still two players from each team battling it out, each player plays their own ball and the best score from each team is selected, deciding who wins the hole.
A Rich History
The Ryder Cup has a rich history, with the first event taking place in 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. The United States took on Great Britain and Ireland, with the hosts coming out as winners with a score of 9.5 to 2.5.
The change from team Great Britain and Ireland to team Europe was implemented in 1979 to make the Ryder Cup more competitive as the United States dominated for decades prior to this. The Ryder Cup has become one of the most esteemed, distinguished competitions amongst golfers and golf fans, due to it only occurring every other year and the fierce rivalry between the USA and Europe. In addition, the national pride, the passionate atmosphere and the tension that comes with the head-to-head format makes it very exciting to watch.
From 1927 to 1979, The United States won the cup 18 times and retained once, with Great Britain and Ireland only winning 3 along with a draw in 1969. Nine wins and one retention for the USA between 1959 and 1977 resulted in the change to team Europe being made. Since then and prior to this year’s tournament, Europe had won 11 and the USA 9, with the 1989 Ryder Cup finishing in a draw, resulting in Europe retaining the cup due to their win two years prior. Of the 44 Ryder Cups before this year, the record is 27 wins for the USA and 15 for Europe/Great Britain and Ireland along with 2 draws.
The 2025 Competition
This year’s competition was held in Farmingdale, New York between September 26 and 28. The course selected was the notoriously hard Bethpage Black which even has a sign outside reading ‘WARNING The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers’. From the Championship Tees, the course rating is a staggering 77.5 and the slope rating a whopping 155, ranking it as one of the hardest courses in the world.
Friday’s Action
Despite this, team Europe got off to a hot start on Friday morning, winning three of the four matches thanks to wins from the teams of Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton, Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick, and Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. These wins came over some of the best golfers in the world such as Scottie Scheffler (World No.1), Russell Henley (World No.3), Justin Thomas (World No.6) and Bryson DeChambeau. In the last match of the morning session, the USA won a point making it 3-1 with 4 sessions to go.
The afternoon four ball match was closer and there were some very good performances from both teams. The team of Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood performed very well in their match to win another point for Europe. However, Cameron Young and Justin Thomas put on a great display to win their match after only 13 holes, as they were 6 ahead with 5 to play. This session left the score at 5.5-2.5 in favour of Europe.
Saturday’s Dominance
Saturday’s sessions consisted of more domination from the European team, again winning the morning foursomes with a score of 3-1. This was then followed by more of the same in afternoon from the European team, one upping themselves from the day before and winning the session with another 3-1 scoreline making it 11.5-4.5 with just the singles matches on the Sunday to go, seeming like they were cruising to a comfortable victory. This however was not the case.
Sunday’s Drama
Victor Hovland of the European team unfortunately had to drop out after picking up a shoulder injury, preventing him from playing on Sunday. Both teams were awarded half a point, something which USA team captain Keegan Bradley disputed after the competition, making his feelings known that he thinks the rule has to change. This left the scores 12-5 with 11 matches to go and 11 more points on offer, Europe only needing 2 more to retain the trophy and 2.5 to win.
With the crowds fired up and the players ready, Sunday’s matches got underway. The USA were clearly invigorated by their home crowd as they started brilliantly, trying to claw back and pull off an incredible comeback. This started to look more likely as the first two matches finished in narrow victories for the Americans, both coming down to the 18th hole. This was thanks to excellent performances by Justin Thomas and Cameron Young in two back and forth games between an in-form Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose respectively.
Even as Europe thought they had secured a point through Matt Fitzpatrick, Bryson DeChambeau fought back from being 5 holes down in the match to finish it all square, securing another half point for team USA. Then came a heavyweight match between the World No.1 and World No.2, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. As expected, this match displayed high levels and was very competitive as it again came down the last hole where the American would take the victory and earn another point on the road to a potentially historic comeback for the American team.
The Winning Moment
Ludvig Åberg would earn Europe’s first full point of the day with a victory in his match after 17 holes, the first not to come down to the 18th. This win meant Europe needed only half a point from the six remaining matches to retain the cup. The US team didn’t give in though and won their next two and were also leading in other matches coming down the stretch.
Then came Shane Lowry. After a tough, up and down match, the passionate Irishman sunk a putt on the 18th hole to tie his match and retain the cup for Europe. He celebrated wildly with his teammates and travelling European fans as the putt rolled in, showing how much the competition means to him and his teammates alike. The final 3 matches resulted in one US win and two ties, making the score on the day 8-3 to the USA but with Europe coming out on top overall 15-13. Although they performed well in their singles matches, the USA team had just left themselves too much to do after the first two days.
A Historic Victory
This win was made even more special for Europe as it was the first win on American soil since the Miracle at Medinah in 2012, a historic comeback from the European team after being 10-6 down going in to the final day. It has been said by many golfers that winning a Ryder Cup away from home is one of the hardest accomplishments in sports, which made the 2025 victory even more special.
The European team have a chance to make it three victories in a row as the event returns to Europe in two years time, being held in Ireland.
Until then, Europe hold the bragging rights and can keep celebrating their brilliant win.
The 2025 Ryder Cup will be remembered as one of the most dramatic editions of the competition, with Europe overcoming a strong American comeback attempt to retain the trophy on US soil in front of a partisan crowd.
