Ryder Cup betting

About the Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is a golf tournament that takes place between teams from the US and Europe every two years. It began in 1927 as a competition against the United States and Britain (+Ireland), but in 1979 the rules were changed to include the whole of Europe. The new format of the US vs. Europe brought about a more competitive tournament that was before dominated by the US.

The winner of the tournament receives the Ryder Cup trophy, named after Samuel Ryder who donated it. Since 1979 when the European team joined, the US have won the trophy seven times, while Europe have walked away with it eight times.

The tournament alternates between the UK and the US, although in 1997 the tournament was held in Spain and in 2006, Ireland.

Ryder Cup Format

The tournament takes place with a team of twelve golfers from each the US and Europe. Players are selected from the twelve man team to play in eight foursome matches, eight fourball matches and twelve singles matches. For winning a match a point is awarded to the respective team, and for a draw, half a point.

Foursomes: Two players from the US and two from Europe play against each other. Golfers on the same team take it in turns to hit the ball. A hole is won by the team that makes it in the fewest strokes.

Fourball: Like the foursomes, but each golfer has his own ball and a hole is won by the team whose golfer has the lowest score.

Singles: This is a standard golf competition between two golfers.

Previous Winners

Year	Venue	Player
2010	Celtic Manor, Wales	Europe
2008	Valhalla Golf Club, US	United States
2006	The K Club – Palmer Course, Ireland	Europe
2004	Oakland Hills Country Club, US	Europe
2002	The Belfry, Brabazon Course, England	Europe
1999	The Country Club, US	United States
1997	Valderrama GC, Spain	Europe
1995	Oak Hill CC, US	Europe
1993	The Belfry, England	United States
1991	Kiawah Island Golf Resort, US	United States
1989	The Belfry, England	Europe
1987	Muirfield Village, US	Europe
1985	The Belfry, England	Europe
1983	PGA National Golf Club, US	United States
1981	Walton Heath Golf Club, England	United States
1979	The Greenbrier, US	United States

Ryder Cup betting

The most obvious Ryder Cup bet would be – who will win between the US or Europe. The stats clearly show that a team is more likely to win while playing at home. Between 1979 and 2008 (15 Ryder Cups) the teams won on their home tournament ten times. It makes sense then to bet on the home team unless there is some exceptional form in the away team that you want to put your money on. When making your Ryder Cup bet remember that a draw is also possible. This has only happened once in the competition though (1989), and so is not a likely occurrence.

Before the Ryder Cup begins you will be able to make ante post bets on who you think will make each twelve man team. These are usually players that have consistently performed over the season, so are fairly easy to predict.

Ryder Cup betting would be nothing without the correct score bet. This is unique to the tournament as it doesn’t come into other golfing competitions. In this market you have predict the final score and the winning team. E.g. Europe 15-13, USA 17 – 11.
There are a total of 28 points available for the teams with half points possible for ties in events. The final scores must equal 28. You will get really good odds when making your Ryder Cup bets on the correct score because it is much harder to predict than other bets.

The hardest bet to predict of all in Ryder Cup betting would probably be the “winning hole putt”. Here you have to predict who you think will win the competition for their team. The odds are really high for this, but for a reason. This is a bet to probably avoid unless you are feeling really lucky. Picking between 24 players without even knowing what order they will play in is a very difficult task.

The Ryder Cup also has all the usual golf markets including hole in one, player match betting and also a large number of in-running markets.