The 45th Ryder Cup

Ryder Cup week is finally upon us, and we can expect to see some absolutely electric scenes at Bethpage Black this weekend. Play will commence at the notoriously difficult New York course at 7:10am Eastern Time, which translates to 11:10am British Summer Time.

The 45^th Ryder Cup will follow the same format the tournament has always upheld: 4 foursomes matches on the Friday and Saturday mornings, 4 fourballs matches on the Friday and Saturday afternoons, and 12 singles matches over the Sunday.

With the tournament taking place on US soil this time around, there’s been as usual a lot of speculation as to which side will emerge victorious. For the past 5 Ryder Cups, the team hosting the event has gone on to win the competition. The teams this year feature a mix of veteran Ryder Cup players as well as some taking to the tournament for the first time.

Luke Donald has predominantly gone for the exact same team that played 2 years ago in Rome with the sole exception being swapping Nicolai Højgaard for his twin brother Rasmus. Following a win at the Travelers Championship in June, many wondered whether Keegan Bradley would opt to play in the tournament as well as Captain Team USA, but he’s stepped aside in favour of some fresh talent including Ben Griffin and Cameron Young.

The European side has a wealth of experience on their side and Luke Donald has plenty of tactical routes he can go down. A powerhouse pairing of Rahm/Hatton, a Scandinavian coupling of Hovland/Åberg, good friends McIlroy/Fleetwood taking to the tee together.

You can’t deny that Keegan Bradley is bringing plenty of talent with him to New York. The locals will no doubt go crazy for the likes of Scheffler and DeChambeau. With 4 Ryder Cup rookies on the team, it will be interesting to see who he’ll pair together to chase the trophy. Jordan Spieth is notably absent this time around having been present at the past 5 tournaments, so the signature Spieth/Thomas partnership will not be gracing our screens this time around.

New Yorkers are notoriously an outspoken bunch, and we’ve no doubt boos, cheers, and jeers will be the staple sound of the sidelines at this year’s event. Team Europe’s preparation for the tournament has even included using virtual reality headsets to emulate verbal abuse to help them cope with the crowd this weekend. One thing’s for certain, this Ryder Cup has an air of tension about it, and we can’t wait to see all the action unfold.