From September 28th to September 30th a historical golf tournament known as the Ryder Cup took place. The tournament pits America’s and Europe’s best golfers against each other to capture the coveted Ryder Cup trophy. This bi-annual golf tournament is very prestigious, and the location of each Ryder Cup alternates between the United States and Europe. In 2018, the Ryder Cup was held at the Le Golf National Course in Guyancourt, France, which is 20 minutes west of Paris.

The Ryder Cup works differently than a typical golf event; it concentrates on teamwork. There is no cash prize, simply the team who wins receives the trophy, plus bragging rights. The defending champion needs 14 points to retain the trophy; the other team needs 14.5 points to take the trophy. The Ryder Cup has three types of events: foursome, four ball, and singles. In foursome, 2 players from the US compete against 2 players from Europe over 18 holes. The teammates alternate shots on each hole, and the team who scores the lowest, wins that designated hole. Whichever team wins the majority of the holes scores a point for their regional team. Four ball is similar to foursome, except all four players hit their own ball, and the person with the lowest score wins the hole for their 2 person team. For singles, this is a 1v1 competition over 18 holes, and the player who wins the most holes scores their side a point.

This year the United States team consisted of 12 players: Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson, and Tiger Woods.

This year the European Union team consisted of 12 players as well: Paul Casey (ENG), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Sergio García (ES), Tyrell Hatton (ENG), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Francesco Molinari (IT), Alex Norén (SE), Thorbjørn Olesen (DK), Ian Poulter (ENG), Jon Rahm (ES), Justin Rose (ENG), and Henrik Stenson (SE).

On Friday, September 28th the first matches occurred. The day kicked off with “morning fourballs”. There were four “morning fourballs” played and the United States took a 3 to 1 lead. However, the “afternoon foursomes” told a different story. The European’s won all 4 of these matches giving them a 5 to 3 lead.

Team United States at the Ryder Cup 2018 with their Captain Jim Furyk, presenting their 2016 Ryder Cup trophy. Image credits to golfweek.com.

On Saturday, September 29th, the same competitions were played. After the Saturday “morning fourballs”  the Europeans gained another three points after their 3 to 1 win against the USA team. The only US double team to win that morning was Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas as they defeated Ian Putler and Jon Rahm. In the afternoon, the session ended with a 2 to 2 draw and the score after two days was EU: 10, US:6.

Finally on Sunday, September 30th, it came down to the singles matches. Some matches were close, others were not, but the EU ultimately beat the US 4.5 to 7.5. This gave the Europeans a 17.5 to 10.5 edge over the Americans. They were the ultimate victors of the 2018 Ryder Cup, taking the Trophy from the Americans who were victorious in 2016.

The most impressive player at the Ryder Cup was Francesco Molinari. Molinari of the EU won all 5 of the matches he played, having the best record of 5-0. The next Ryder Cup will take place in 2020 at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Until then the Europeans have official bragging rights!

By Julia Marotti’21; Local and World News Editor