Ryder Cup Format Explained

Team Europe and Team USA is one of golf's most entertaining and hotly contested events

It's also an event that differs significantly from the events you would have watched week in

week out on the various tours, so let's find out all about how it works

In total, 28 matches are contested with each match being worth one point

For the outright win, the magic number is 14.5. Should both sides accumulate 14 points, the defending champions will retain

the Ryder Cup. So if a 14-4 draw happens this year, Team USA will retain the trophy

after winning at Whistling Straits in 2021. Winning a match gets a team one point while halving

a match gets each team half a point. So there are 12 players on each team with eight taking part

in each foursums and four balls session while all 12 will battle it out on the final day

in singles matches. The event takes place over three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the first

two days being split up into two sessions. Right, let's take a deeper look at how each day works during the Ryder Cup

So, Friday's action consists of four foursons and four four ball matches

We come on to how these formats work shortly and the home captain gets to decide in which order these matches are played For example in 2021 Team USA Captain Steve Stricker decides to have the foursums in the morning and the four balls in the afternoon So then Saturday action is exactly

the same as Friday with four foursomes matches and four four ball matches played across two

sessions. Finally, Sunday sees all 12 players and each team play singles matches against one another

with 12 points up for grabs on the final day. So let's take a look at those formats. Forsoms is an

alternate shot format where teams in pairs take turns on each hole. So one player hits the

tee shot, the other will play the next shot from where that ball finishes and so on. This continues

until the ball is holed out. It's a match play competition against the other team so whichever

duo takes the fewest shots wins the hole. Players on each team will take turns to tee off. So one

will always tee off from the even-numbered holes and the other will always tee off from the

odd-numbered holes and this is regardless of whoever hit the shot on the last hole. In four

four ball matches, both players from each team play their own ball, so there are four balls

in play on every hole. The best score from each team counts in the match with the lowest

score resulting on a win of the hole. And then finally, Sunday's singles matches are a straight

shootout between two players with the best score winning the hole. It's worth noting that

there are no playoffs in Ryder Cup golf and if a match is still all square or tied on the 18th

hole, both teams receive half a point