Spain could host finally the 2031 Ryder Cup

While Continental Europe has just dominated Great Britain and Ireland at the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi, the continent could well win another battle with the organization of the Ryder Cup 2031…

Ryder Cup, Spain

After France in 2018 and Italy in 2023, continental Europe could again host the Ryder Cup in 2031 and install an alternation between the British Isles and the continent. Ireland will host the event in 2027 and England were favorites to return to a competition they have not hosted since 2002.

But the course war in England could finally push the organizers of the most prestigious of golf competitions to orient themselves on the side of Spain. The PGA Catalunya course, which had already failed to host the 1997 Ryder Cup finally switched to Andalusia, in Valderrama, suddenly becomes the big favorite for 2031, when we imagined rather a candidacy for 2035.

This small sting in the self-esteem of the English will perhaps allow them to bury the hatchet and pocket the jackpot, unless Germany, also announced as a candidate, wins the bet… The Americans, defending champions, for their part, have already validated the American stages until 2033 in San Francisco.

The Ryder Cup matches involve various types of match play between the players chosen from the 2 teams each played over 18 holes. According to the formula now in force, the competition includes eight foursomes challenges, eight fourballs and twelve individual matches. The winner or the winning couple of each match gets one point for their team, in case of a tie both teams get half a point.

A foursome match is a match between two pairs of golfers: players from the same team take turns hitting the ball. Fourball is always a game between two pairs, but each player completes his hole independently, choosing the best result of the pair, and comparing it with that of his opponents. Finally, an individual challenge is a match between two golfers in which each golfer finishes his hole and compares his result with that of his opponent. In all three cases each hole is won by the team or individual with the least number of strokes, and whoever wins the most holes wins the match.

The challenges take place over three days: from Friday to Sunday (except in 2010 when, due to bad weather, the tournament ended on Monday), for a total of 28 matches. Four fourballs are played in the morning and four foursomes in the afternoon (or vice versa) on Fridays. Saturday is played again according to the same scheme. On Sunday, 12 individual matches take place: therefore all twelve players of the two teams take to the field for the first time. In fact, not all players compete on Friday or Saturday, it is up to the captain to choose the 4 pairs to line up for each session. At the end of the three days, the team with the most points is the winner. According to the regulation, the reigning champion team keeps the cup in the event of a draw (14 points), the challenging team must therefore score at least 14 and a half to obtain victory.