Ryder Cup 2010

The 2010 Ryder Cup starts tomorrow and Team USA will do it's best and try to retain the cup. For those of you who dont know much about the Ryder Cup here is some tidbits. First the Ryder Cup is a match play event that is played every two years between the best American golfers and the best European golfers. During the two year period players accumulate points based on how well they perform in tournaments. The top 8 golfers on both sides get automatic bids and the remaing 4 spots are picked by the team captain (who does not play). The site for the event switches between the United States and Europe every other time. This year it is Europe while next time it will be held here.

The first two days are the same in that there they have an alternate shot match and then a best ball match with one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Alternate shot is where team members will alternate taking shots and best ball is where each player plays their own ball but they take the lowest score. Team captains must pick eight players to play in each event making four pairs. The final day is played by all 12 team members in straight up match play. Each match is worth a point and if there is a tie then its a 1/2 point and the defending team (Team USA) must get 14 points to win while the Europeans need 14 1/2 points to win.

Now for those of you who are still reading this I would just like to say that I enjoy the Ryder Cup. Its a different type of tournament that is fun to watch in the way that its not the traditional you vs everyone. Its also fun to root for your country or in Europes case their continent. Since this year it is held in Europe I dont see the Americans fairing to well. For some reason American golfers dont fair well across the pond, but thats just my opinion. Anything can happen though and will be fun to see how this all plays out. This is Sergio's bread and butter so look for him to plays lights out.

Here are the pairings for Friday morning (US pair listed first):

Phil Mickleson & Dustin Johnson VS Lee Westwood & Martin Kaymer

Stewart Cink & Matt Kuchar VS Rory McIlroy & Graeme McDowell

Steve Stricker & Tiger Woods VS Ian Poulter & Ross Fisher

Bubba Watson & Jeff Overton (IU) VS Luke Donald (Northwestern) & Padraig Harrington (Big Ten battle)