The United States team will face Team Europe in the 45th Ryder Cup this Friday through Sunday at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y.
The most storied international competition in golf, the Ryder Cup is played biennially but is only held on American soil once every four years as the teams trade off hosting duties. Rosters of 12 will square off in five sessions across three days for the right to hoist the trophy.
Learn everything you need to know about the Ryder Cup here:
WHAT IS THE RYDER CUP?
Contested since 1927, the Ryder Cup pits a team of the best professional golfers from the United States against the best players born in Europe. At first, the competition was between the US and Great Britain; the British team was expanded to include Ireland in 1973, then all of Europe in 1979. The teams go head-to-head in match play over the course of three days.
WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF THE COMPETITION?
The US leads 27-15-2 all-time. But Europe has captured eight of the past 11 Cups, most recently in 2023 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club outside Rome, where Team Europe won 16 1/2-11 1/2. The host team has won the past five editions.
WHO IS REPRESENTING THE US THIS YEAR?
Keegan Bradley was named the American captain last year in a surprising move. At 39, he is the youngest Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer, and he nearly became the first playing captain since Palmer, too, but he did not select himself to the 12-player roster.
Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau qualified for the US roster on the strength of their play. Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns were the captain's picks.
Bradley's vice captains are Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Kisner, Jim Furyk and Gary Woodland. Like Bradley, they do not play in the matches.
WHO IS REPRESENTING EUROPE THIS YEAR?
Luke Donald returns as the European captain after leading the victorious 2023 team, and 11 players from that roster are back as well.
Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard and Tyrrell Hatton automatically qualified for Team Europe. Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jon Rahm were the captain's picks. The only first-timer is Hojgaard, who takes over after his twin brother, Nicolai, played on the 2023 team.
The vice captains are Thomas Bjorn, Alex Noren, Jose Maria Olazabal and brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari.
WHAT IS THE FORMAT AND HOW IS THE COMPETITION SCORED?
In match play, instead of counting total strokes, matches are scored by who wins the most holes. Three formats are utilized across two-on-two and one-on-one action.
Friday and Saturday morning, the American and European teams will send out four duos for "foursomes," also known as alternate shot. Each pairing takes turns playing the same ball on each hole.
The afternoon sessions those days will be "fourball," or best ball. Each golfer plays his own ball, and the pairing takes the lower score at each hole – if Scheffler is playing with Spaun, Scheffler birdies the first hole and Spaun pars, then the US has birdied.
On Sunday, all 12 players from each side will face off in a singles match.
Each match is worth one point, with a total of 28 points up for grabs. That means the first to 14 1/2 wins the Cup. If the teams were to tie 14-14, Europe would retain possession of the Cup.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
International bragging rights. There is no prize money up for grabs, unlike most professional golf tournaments. However, the US players will receive a "stipend" from the PGA of America after reports in 2023 that certain players wanted to be compensated for their time. There were charitable donations made in the past, but this year the American players will receive $500 000, $300 000 of which must go to charity. The rest is for them to use as they please.
HAS BETHPAGE BLACK EVER HOSTED THE RYDER CUP?
It is Bethpage Black's first time serving as the venue for the prestigious event. Considered one of the best and most difficult public courses in the US, Bethpage has previously hosted two US Opens and one PGA Championship, so many of the competitors this week have played the course in major championship conditions. It's located on Long Island and will play as a par-70, 7 352-yard track this week.