This weekend, Team USA will take on Team Europe in the 2018 
Ryder Cup on the Albatros Course at Le Golf National, Paris, France. The American team are the current holders of the trophy having beaten Europe for the first time since 2008 at Hazeltine back in 2016 by a 17-11 scoreline.
The tournament takes place once every two years and always draws massive interest from the betting community. So, to help you formulate your bets, we are going to preview the tournament below and also give you our tips on who we think will triumph come Sunday evening.
If you want to enjoy a flutter on the Ryder Cup then head on over to bet365 Sport as they have extensive betting options on the tournament. New customers can sign up today with the current bet365 Sport New Player Bonus to get them started on the site.
To begin with, we are going to take a look at some of the Ryder Cup records that have been set over the years, including the period up until 1977, when the tournament was a match between the USA and Great Britain (and latterly Great Britain and Ireland) and then also from 1979 onwards when the modern format of a match between Europe and the USA was instigated to make the competition more competitive.
Ryder Cup Records
- Total Matches Won – USA – 465, Europe – 358
- Total Points Won – USA – 531.5, Europe – 424.5
- No of Holes in one – 6 in total (5 for European Players, one for USA)
- Largest 18-hole victory – 8&7 Tom Kite and Fred Couples (Tom Kite v Howard Clark in 1989 and Fred Couples v Ian Woosnam in 1997)
- Most Frequent Pairing – Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal – 15 times
- Youngest Player – Sergio Garcia (Europe) – 19 years 258 days in 1999
- Oldest Player – Ray Floyd (USA) – 51 years 20 days in 1993
- Most Appearances on a Team – Phil Mickelson (USA) – 12 (including 2018)
- Most Points won by an Individual – Nick Faldo (GB & Ire & Eur) – 25
- Most Singles Points Won – Colin Montgomerie, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Arnold Palmer & Neil Coles with 7 each (Montgomerie, with 6 wins and 2 draws from eight singles games, is the only undefeated player in singles play in this group)
- Most Foursome Points Won – Berhard Langer (Eur) – 11.5
- Most Fourballs Points Won – Ian Woosnam and Jose Maria Olazabal (both Eur) 10.5
- Most Points won by a Pair – Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal (Eur) – 12
- Only Player to win all Five possible Sessions since 1979 – Larry Nelson (USA) – 1979
Individual Team Performances
- Team USA – 41 Matches played, 26 wins, 13 losses, 2 ties
- GB & GB & Ireland – 22 Matches played, 3 wins, 18 losses, 1 tie (up to 1977)
- Team Europe – 19 Matches played, 10 wins, 8 losses, 1 tie (from 1979)
Albatros Course at Le Golf National
- 1st Hole – 416 Yard (par 4)
- 2nd Hole – 213 Yard (par 3)
- 3rd Hole – 563 Yard (par 5)
- 4th Hole – 487 Yard (par 4)
- 5th Hole – 405 Yard (par 4)
- 6th Hole – 383 Yard (par 4)
- 7th Hole – 481 Yard (par 4)
- 8th Hole – 208 Yard (par 3)
- 9th Hole – 596 Yard (par 5)
Out – 3752 yards (Par 36)
- 10th Hole – 383 Yard (par 4)
- 11th Hole – 191 Yard (par 3)
- 12th Hole – 443 Yard (par 4)
- 13th Hole – 427 Yard (par 4)
- 14th Hole – 607 Yard (par 5)
- 15th Hole – 399 Yard (par 4)
- 16th Hole – 175 Yard (par 3)
- 17th Hole – 484 Yard (par 4)
- 18th Hole – 470 Yard (par 4)
In – 3579 Yards (Par 35)
Total Yards – 7331 (par 71)
The Albatros Course at Le Golf National will be familiar to European Tour players as it is home to the Open de France each year, one of the top tournaments of the European Tour season. The highlight of the course is the four-hole closing stretch which features plenty of water and affords the possibility of plenty of drama as the Ryder Cup unfolds in the latter stages of each match.
Ryder Cup Format
- Friday 28th September – AM – 4x Foursomes, PM – 4x Fourballs
- Saturday 29th September – AM – 4x Foursome, PM – 4x Fourballs
- Sunday 30th September – PM – 12x Singles Games
All foursomes, fourballs and singles matches are played over 18-hole matchplay. The first team to reach 14.5 points will win the Ryder Cup, however as defending champions, Team USA will retain the trophy if they manage to tie the tournamnt 14-14.
Team U.S.A
Jim Furyk’s team is comprised of six of the world’s top ten golfers, plus six more that are ranked no lower than 25th in the world. Their name, along with how many previous Ryder Cup tournaments the player has played in, are outlined below.
- Brooks Koepka – 1 Appearance
- Dustin Johnson – 3 Appearances
- Justin Thomas – 0 Appearances
- Patrick Reed – 2 Appearances
- Bubba Watson – 3 Appearances
- Jordan Spieth – 2 Appearances
- Rickie Fowler – 3 Appearances
- Webb Simpson – 2 Appearances
- Bryson DeChambeau (Captain’s Pick) – 0 Appearances
- Phil Mickelson (Captain’s Pick) – 11 Appearances
- Tiger Woods (Captain’s Pick) – 7 Appearances
- Tony Finau (Captain’s Pick) – 0 Appearances
Furyk’s five Vice Captain picks for the Ryder Cup are:
- David Duval
- Steve Stricker
- Zach Johnson
- Matt Kuchar
- Davis Love III
Tiger Woods inclusion as a player means that he was unable to take up his original place on the team as a vice captain.
This is a hugely strong US team and six of their 12-man team are ranked inside the World’s top ten. Their lowest ranked player is Phil Mickelson at 25th in the World. It is arguably the strongest US team in terms of ranking and quality ever to compete for a Ryder Cup in Europe.
Team Europe
Outlined below is the European team, together with the number of previous Ryder Cup appearances for each player. The four Captain’s Picks from skipper Thomas Bjorn are also indicated, together with his five vice-captains.
- Francesco Molinari (Italy) – 2 Appearances
- Justin Rose (England) – 4 Appearances
- Tyrell Hatton (England) – 0 Appearances
- Tommy Fleetwood (England) – 0 Appearances
- Jon Rahm (Spain) – 0 Appearances
- Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) – 4 Appearances
- Alex Noren (Sweden) – 0 Appearances
- Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) – 0 Appearances
- Paul Casey (England) – (Captain’s Pick) – 3 Appearances
- Sergio Garcia (Spain) – (Captain’s Pick) – 8 Appearances
- Ian Poulter (England) – (Captain’s Pick) – 5 Appearances
- Henrik Stenson (Sweden) – (Captain’s Pick) – 4 Appearances
Bjorn’s five vice captains for the event are as follows:
- Luke Donald (England)
- Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
- Lee Westwood (England)
- Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland)
- Robert Karlsson (Sweden)
The European team has five rookies in it and the four Captain’s picks have included very experienced players to balance the team somewhat. The lowest ranked player in the team is Dane Thorbjorn Olesen who is ranked 45th in the world. Team Europe has three players inside the world’s top ten (Rose, McIlroy and Rahm), with two others (Fleetwood and Noren) inside the world’s top 20.
How will the Ryder Cup Unfold?
Most Ryder Cups in Europe tend to see Team Europe make a strong start in the Fourballs and Foursomes and then Team USA come back strongly in the singles games in particular. I see this event being somewhat similar and in truth, it will likely be the final day that decides the victor as I think we’ll head into Sunday with both teams likely to be almost level, if not level on points.
If that is the case then I think the advantage is then very much with Team USA, given their quality of players and the fact that their strength in depth and experience is much better than the European team. Europe’s best chance in my opinion, is to open up a big lead over the first two days, but even then, it could still lead to the Cup being decided by the last couple of matches out on course.
For me though, this US team has frightening quality right throughout the team and it looks nicely balanced with players able to win points both as an individual and as part of a pair. As such. I am backing Team USA to win this one and they are a 5/6 shot with Bet365 Sport at the time of writing. (12.30pm on Tuesday 25th September).