© Getty Images Sport Naomi Baker / Staff
The European team, victorious at the Ryder Cup 2023 in Rome against the USA, is among the six contenders for the Laureus World Team of the Year Award, known as the Oscars of sports, which annually honors the world’s best.
Ryder Cup, results
The winners will be announced on April 22nd in Madrid, with candidates selected by the 1,300 members of the Laureus Global Media Panel. Competing for the “Team of the Year” category, Luke Donald’s Team Europe will contend against the Spanish women’s national football team, the German men’s national basketball team, Manchester City, the Springboks, and Oracle Red Bull.
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf tournament pitting teams from Europe and the United States. Originating in 1927 (with an unofficial competition in 1926 between the American and British teams at the East Course of the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, Surrey, UK), it saw over 45 years of American dominance until 1973 when the British team was joined by Irish players.
Subsequently, players from the rest of Europe were included, thanks to Severiano Ballesteros, who persuaded the British Isles to encompass the rest of the European countries starting in 1979. This inclusion of players significantly enhanced the tournament’s competitiveness.
Currently, the matches are jointly administered by the USPGA and the PGA European Tour. The Ryder Cup format includes various match play games among selected players from both teams, each comprising twelve players. Presently, the matches consist of eight foursomes, eight fourballs, and twelve singles matches.
The winner of each match earns one point for their team, while a draw results in each team receiving half a point. Foursomes feature two teams of two golfers, taking alternating shots with the same ball. Each hole is won by the team completing it in the fewest shots.
In the fourball format, two teams of two players each have their own ball, and the team with the player who holes in the fewest shots wins the hole. Individual matches are standard one-on-one competitions, with the player holing in the fewest shots winning the hole.
The matches span three days, typically from Friday to Sunday. The first two days include four fourball matches in the morning and four foursome matches in the afternoon. On Sunday, twelve singles matches are played. Not all players participate in the Friday and Saturday matches; each team captain selects eight players for each of the four rounds on those two days.
Each match victory earns one point, and half a point is awarded for a draw. In the event of a tie at the end of all matches, the team that won the previous edition retains the title.
