This was the last Ryder Cup to take place in even-numbered years, as the next Ryder Cup was played in 2021.
Format
The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was as follows:
Day 1 (Friday) – 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches and 4 fourball (better ball) matches
Day 2 (Saturday) – 4 foursome matches and 4 fourball matches
Day 3 (Sunday) – 12 singles matches
On the first two days there were four fourball matches in the morning and four foursome matches in the afternoon.
With a total of 28 points available, 141⁄2 points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion, the United States, to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.[1]
Ryder Cup Europe confirmed originally six countries—France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden—to be interested in bidding for the 2018 Ryder Cup.[2] The deadline for the submission of bids was set for 30 April 2010; Sweden withdrew from the bidding early that month,[3] while the Spanish bidding host city of Tres Cantos showed poor popular support.[4][5]
The European team qualification rules were announced on 18 January 2017. There were a number of changes compared to 2016 with an increase in the number of captain's picks from three to four, based on recommendations from the analytics team behind Team Europe.[9] The team consisted of:[10][11]
The leading four players on the Race to Dubai Points List
The leading four players, not qualified above, on the World Points List
Total World Points earned in Official World Golf Ranking events starting on 31 August 2017 (the start date of the D+D Real Czech Masters) and ending on 26 August 2018 and thereafter only at the Made in Denmark tournament. Points earned from the date of the 2018 BMW PGA Championship onwards, were multiplied by 1.5. No World points were earned from tournaments staged opposite Rolex Series tournaments in both 2017 and 2018.
Four captain's picks
Membership criteria for the European Tour were reduced from five tournaments to four (outside the majors and WGCs) for the 2018 season. As in previous Ryder Cups, all players had to be members of the European Tour to be eligible to play for Europe. Changes were also made to the eligibility of future captains and vice-captains.
Paul Casey became a member of the European Tour at the start of 2018. Since he was not a member during 2017 he did not earn points until the start of 2018.[12]
The leading players in the European Ryder Cup points lists were:[13][14]
Players in qualifying places (Q) are shown in green; captain's picks (P) are shown in yellow; those in italics (q) qualified through the other points list.
The remaining three players selected as captain's picks, Ian Poulter, Sergio García and Paul Casey, finished in 22nd, 24th and 35th place respectively on the European points list.[13]
United States
The United States qualification rules were announced on 8 February 2017.[15] The majority of the team were selected from the Ryder Cup points list which was based on prize money won in important tournaments. Generally one point was awarded for every $1,000 earned. The team consisted of:
The leading eight players on the Ryder Cup points list, gained in the following events
2018 major championships (double points for the winner, 50% extra for those who make the cut)
2018 PGA Tour events. Qualifying events in this category were those played between 1 January and 12 August 2018, the date of the PGA Championship, and including the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event. "Alternate" events (those played opposite a major or WGC event) did not earn points
One announced after the 2018 BMW Championship, which concluded on 9 September.
The qualification rules were similar to those used for the 2016 Ryder Cup. The points given for the 2018 season major championships were reduced from double to 50% extra (except for the winner who still received double points). The dates on which the captain's picks were made were brought forward by one or two weeks.
The leading 15 players in the final points list after the final qualifying event, the 2018 PGA Championship were:[16]
On 4 September 2018, Furyk named David Duval, Zach Johnson, and Matt Kuchar as additional vice-captains. Tiger Woods, who had previously been named a vice-captain, would no longer serve in this position as he was chosen to be one of Furyk's captain's picks.[21]
Players
Thomas Bjørn announced the four captain's picks at 2 pm BST on 5 September. Captain's picks are shown in yellow. The world rankings and records were at the start of the 2018 Ryder Cup.[22]
Captain's picks are shown in yellow. Jim Furyk announced three captain's picks at 5 pm EDT on 4 September. The final captain's pick was announced on 10 September after the conclusion of the BMW Championship. The world rankings and records were at the start of the 2018 Ryder Cup.[23]
The Saturday fourballs saw Europe continue to dominate with wins for García/McIlroy (2 & 1) against Koepka and Finau, Casey/Hatton (3 & 2) against Fowler/Johnson and Molinari/Fleetwood (4 & 3) against Reed/Woods. Team USA secured their only point of the morning session with Thomas and Spieth defeating Poulter and Rahm 2 & 1, to leave the overall tournament at 8–4 in Team Europe's favour.[29] Despite the strong performance, Team Europe captain Thomas Bjørn reiterated: "Nothing's won, we're just over the halfway stage. There's no bit happiness yet, there's still a determination and work to be done".[29]
The afternoon session was drawn 2–2. It saw Team Europe's Molinari and Fleetwood win for the fourth time, a European record in the Ryder Cup, this time 5 & 4 over Woods and DeChambeau.[30] Team USA's Spieth and Thomas defeated Poulter and McIlroy 4 & 3, while Simpson and Watson's green play saw them defeat Europe's García and Norén 3 & 2. The fourth pairing saw Rose and Stenson narrowly beat Johnson and Koepka 2 & 1 as a result of some good putting late in the round.[30][31]
The United States put their best players at the top of the card on Sunday, and despite the four point deficit threatened a comeback in the singles, as they won 31⁄2 points from the first four matches. Justin Thomas beat Rory McIlroy on the final hole as the latter's approach found the water, and Tony Finau defeated the previously unbeaten Tommy Fleetwood 6 & 4.[32] However, from then on Europe dominated, winning the next six matches to lead 161⁄2–91⁄2. Guarantees of at least a half-point each for García and Stenson (both of whom later got full points) meant that victory was already assured before the 141⁄2-point winning post was officially reached when Phil Mickelson, already three holes down, found the water on the 16th hole and conceded the hole and match to Molinari, who became the first player for Europe to score what is now the maximum possible five points in a single Ryder Cup.[33][n 1] Of the remaining two matches, one was won by the U.S. team and one by Europe, the last match decided with a long putt on the 18th green by Alex Norén for Europe, leaving the final score 171⁄2–101⁄2 to Europe.[32] Sergio García's singles win made him the all-time Ryder Cup points leader, with 251⁄2 points in nine appearances, overtaking Nick Faldo's 25 points in 11 appearances.[34][n 2][38]
^Besides losing his points record to Sergio García,[34] Nick Faldo was also overtaken by Phil Mickelson for most appearances (with 12 to Faldo's 11) and most matches played (with 47 to Faldo's 46).[35] Mickelson also overtook Arnold Palmer for most singles matches played by a US player (with 12 to Palmer's 11);[35] he also set a Ryder Cup record of 22 losses,[36] one ahead of Tiger Woods,[37]Neil Coles, and Christy O'Connor Snr (see European and American playing records).
^ abWilco, Daniel (26 September 2018). "11 Ryder Cup Records Phil Mickelson Could Break or Tie in 2018". rydercup.com. Retrieved 1 October 2018. Phil Mickelson will be making his 12th Ryder Cup appearance this year, breaking the tie with Nick Faldo for the most appearances among either team. 46 matches played — Nick Faldo Phil: 45 Most possible after 2018: 50 11 singles matches played — Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson (U.S. only) Phil: 11 Most possible after 2018: 12
^"Europe wins Ryder Cup to extend U.S.'s road losing streak". ESPN. Associated Press. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018. Mickelson, 48, ... wound up losing both his matches. He started the week by setting a record with his 12th Ryder Cup appearance. He ended it by setting a more dubious Ryder Cup record with 22 losses.
^Harig, Bob (30 September 2018). "Tiger Woods falls to Jon Rahm, finishes 0-4 at Ryder Cup". ESPN. Retrieved 1 October 2018. His overall record is now 13-21-3, giving him the second-most losses in American team history – behind Phil Mickelson, who lost both of his matches this week and has now lost 22 times.
